The Man in the Mirror
by BluesNavi
Summary: "If this happens again, if tomorrow is still 'today,' I want you to sit down in front of a mirror. I want you to look at your reflection and tell it everything that's bothering you." She gave a crooked grin. "Then we'll see how crazy you are."
1. November 24

Miranda knew something was wrong the moment she opened the newspaper. The reason for this wasn't the fact that the nearest movie theater was being torn down, or that a house had caught fire and burned down with a family of four inside. It was the fact that this was _yesterday's_ news. Even the daily horoscopes were identical. Puzzled, she flipped to the front page to check the dates. November 24, same as yesterday. She pursed her lips, trying to fight the anger and gloom that surged up inside. The neighborhood children were always playing cruel pranks on her, this was just another one of their jokes. The anger fizzled out quickly, but the gloom washed over her, as per normal.

How pathetic. Tormented by children.

With shaking hands, she put the newspaper into the recycling bin and resolved to go about her day as normal. She had her breakfast, grabbed her purse and jacket, and left the house. And, as per usual, there was a gaggle of kids out on the street outside.

_Normal_ children would sleep in until noon on a weekend, but the ones on Coachlight Drive would never fail to get up in time to meet her as she left her house at 9:15. Miranda supposed she should be flattered in a way, but… well….

"Miranda, Miranda," they chanted, as soon as they caught sight of her, "She's all bad luck! Full of doom, full of gloom, what a dumb and ugly duck! Looking for a job today? Who cares, you'll just get chucked!" Miranda pulled her coat collar tighter around her neck and locked the door, maneuvering around the children on her way to the bus stop.

"Hey Miranda, take this!" laughed one of the boys. Miranda sidestepped immediately, narrowly dodging a glob of mud, which splattered on the mailbox instead. "No way, she dodged it!" the kid said in disbelief.

Miranda glanced down at his disgruntled face, and hurried on her way. She may have been stupid, but did they really think they could get her with the same prank as yesterday?

One long bus ride later, she was in the downtown area, hunting for a job. She had a short break for lunch, and kept looking… and looking…. but there was nothing new. Defeated again. Time had passed quickly, so it was already 4:30 by the time she got back to the bus stop. She stood by the sign to wait, staring at the window of a women's fashion store. She could see her reflection in the window: tall, gangly, unattractive, with dark hair pulled back in a tight bun, a haggard face with eyes surrounded by the darkness of mascara and too little sleep. She wore a loose green shirt under a nondescript brown jacket, and worn blue jeans. Ah, how ugly. No wonder she'd been fired from 100 jobs now.

She caught sight of another woman in the reflection and for a moment wished she was that beautiful. But then she stiffened and turned to look at the woman, heart beating faster. She'd been here yesterday, stared at the same window yesterday, seen that woman yesterday. And this woman was wearing the same clothes, applying the same makeup while looking at the same compact mirror! And now that she thought about it, Miranda noticed how very familiar everything had been: the job selections, the line at McDonald's…. She'd been passing it all off as deja vu, but no one was supposed to get deja vu so much in one day!

Something weird was happening. Things were repeating themselves. But was she sure?

Miranda put a hand over her racing heart and willed it to calm. She would do the exact same things as yesterday. Go to the store, buy some food for dinner, go home and watch TV. Somewhere along the line, something would happen to break the cycle, she was sure of it. With this thought in mind, she climbed onto the bus. She sat near the back and couldn't help but watch the other passengers.

She got off the bus near the Hy-Vee closest to her house. Deciding she was in the mood for frozen pizza, she made her way over to the freezer section and was terrified by the mother and child arguing loudly over ice cream. She hadn't seen them yesterday, but she'd heard their shouting from across the store. She picked up a pizza and headed for checkout line 8. Lo and behold, it was the same timid, punkish blond kid she'd run into yesterday.

He stuttered a hello - same as yesterday! - scanned the pizza and recited the price, then mentioned somethining about a discount on gas - same as yesterday! As he turned his attention to the next person in line, Miranda grew desperate and squawked, "Excuse me, but what day is it?"

He looked startled.

"Oh. Um… It's the 24th."

She felt as if gravity had failed her for a moment and tottered out of the store in a daze.

The 24th. The 24th! Today was yesterday! How was that supposed to work? It wasn't. Today could not be yesterday, because today was always today, it could be no other! So today was the 24th, which may have been yesterday, but was also today! Her confused inner rambling was rudely cut off as a car sped by, splashing dirty water all over her. Just. Like. Yesterday. Miranda sniveled and let out a few miserable sobs, then continued on her way.

Upon reaching home, she heard the booming chimes of her grandfather clock in the living room. This had happened yesterday as well, but it didn't phase her. Clocks were supposed to chime every hour, and that normalcy was comforting. She managed a watery smile and brushed her hand across it, muttering, "Thank you, my dear."

She continued to the kitchen, heated up the pizza, and sat in front of the TV to eat. She picked a romance movie and sat there, eyes glued to the screen as she munched on the pizza. Almost forty minutes later, as the protagonists french kissed and Miranda dolefully told herself that no one would kiss someone as useless as herself, a loud shriek came from outside. Without thinking she leapt up, dashed over and threw open the window, leaning out to spot the source. She was greeted with the same view as yesterday. Mrs. Wheeler was attempting to strangle her husband, leaning halfway out the window as she screeched about him cheating on her, despite his gurgles of "I would never," and "but I love you!"

Miranda shut her window and forced herself not to hyperventilate. She knew what would happen. Their shouts would draw Mother's attention, and the old lady would be there within three minutes, screeching at the both of them about how stupid they were. She'd whack them over the head with her cane and storm off back to her house, scowling all the way. Crisis averted.

Sure enough, a minute later the old woman's voice joined the din.

"MARY WHEELER WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Miranda held up one hand and hit the power button on the TV. The pattering from the rainy scene cut off abruptly, leaving the room in silence save for the yelling next door. She sighed. She couldn't take any more of this. Pizza forgotten, she walked to her bedroom and flopped on the bed, not even bothering to change her clothes. Maybe she could just sleep off this horrible day, and she would wake up tomorrow and it would all be a very bad dream.

* * *

Her dream was awful. She imagined herself running around and around on a record, which was playing backwards on a gramophone. It was dark, but a gold line glowed overhead, dotted here and there with gleaming spheres. There was an odd, ticking melody all around. The melody was nice, but the running backwards was far too much like her repeat-day for her comfort.

As it was, she woke before her alarm and gazed up at the ceiling for a while before heaving a sigh and rolling out of bed. She slowly walked over to her dresser and pulled open a drawer. She inhaled sharply. There, on top of the stack of clean shirts, was a loose green one. Hadn't she worn that to bed? Miranda looked down- she was wearing her long-sleeved purple pajamas. For a moment she just stood there, staring at her sleeve, and then she took off. She flung the front door open, snatched up the newspaper, and whipped it open right there on the porch.

November 24th. Yesterday again.

She collapsed against the doorframe. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Panic? Of course! Wait, no. She needed to persevere. She would make sense of this, somehow. And with that in mind, she lifted her head, nodded to herself, and decided to go about the day as usual. She hadn't expected it to be so damaging on her psyche.

_Everything was the same_. From the kids throwing mud to the job offerings and line at McDonald's. Honestly, someone had to realize what was going on!

And so it happened that Miranda broke down at the bus stop. The question had been plaguing her all day, so she turned to the woman with the makeup and stuttered, "U-um, excuse me…."

The woman looked up disinterestedly. Miranda fought the urge to back down and plowed on instead. "H-h-haven't you gotten tired of that outfit? It's been three days now…." The woman gave her a look of incredulous rage.

"Excuse me?" she shrieked, drawing the attention of bystanders. "Are you saying I look ugly? Last week's fashion?"

"No, that's not what I meant at all!" said Miranda, horrified.

"Well you're certainly one to talk, dressed like that," the woman hissed. Miranda pulled her jacket tighter, even as she began to shrink. She wished the ground would swallow her up, and was relieved when the bus finally showed up. She stopped at the grocery store again to pick up a sandwich before heading home, splashed again by dirty water (she really should've seen it coming), and had her meal in front of the TV, uninterrupted in her misery until the Wheelers went at it again. She tried to focus more on the Doctor Who episode, but as Mother's voice joined in, she got an idea.

Now, Mother was an elderly lady who lived across from Miranda, their backyards divided by a drainage ditch. She was well known among the surrounding neighborhoods as the person to go to if you wanted to get things sorted out, and she commanded respect from everyone. Everyone else looked to her for advice, why not Miranda? Even if this problem was something no one had ever approached her about….

It took Miranda a good twenty minutes to talk herself into it, and by then Mother was long gone from the neighboring house. As the grandfather clock began to chime again, Miranda forced herself off the couch and pulled on her shoes. She hesitated by the glass door. Now or never. She had to get help from somewhere, or she'd go insane. She sucked in a breath and seized the tiny ray of courage, and threw open the door without another thought. She charged down the hill, through the little trickle of water, and up the other side, leaping onto the porch and knocking on the glass door.

It was only after she did this that she realized how strange it was to have someone come to the back door. Odd. Suspicious. Rude. She couldn't run to the front and try again, because then the old lady would think it was a prank and be angry, and ooh…. she'd gotten herself into a mess again. So she just stood there and wrung her hands anxiously until she saw someone enter the little sitting room beyond. It was Mother's gardener, Barba, if she recalled. He was practically a giant, with a bald head and a baby face, who loved nothing more than Mother and his flowers. Normally he was all smiles, but he seemed a bit startled now. Probably because she was at the back door. And she may have trampled a flowerbed on her way here. OH GOD. She had, hadn't she? She clapped her hands to her face and let out a wail of despair. Barba hastened to open the door, but before he even touched the handle, words were spilling out of Miranda's mouth.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm a creep at your back door and I crashed through your flowerbeds and ruined your hard work! I'm so useless! So useless!"

She kept babbling, and Barba held up his hands. "It's all okay, miss, you've done nothing wrong…." Miranda just sobbed harder.

"What the hell's with all the noise tonight?" grumbled an aged voice, and Mother shuffled into view. She was short, with a slightly hunched back, long gray hair tumbling over her shoulders and face round and heavily wrinkled. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of Miranda. "You're the woman who lives behind us, right?" Miranda hiccuped and nodded.

"I'm s-so sorry to bother you, but I really need help and everyone says you're wonderful with advice…."

Mother sighed tiredly. "Fine. Sit down," she said, gesturing at the faded sofa with her cane, "and we'll talk. Barba, could you please…?"

"Of course, Mother," he said with a smile, and left the room.

Mother sat heavily on the sofa, and Miranda sank onto the opposite cushion. After a slight pause, Mother asked, "What's troubling you, dear?" She sounded much softer. Miranda inhaled deeply and clasped her hands in her lap.

"Well you see… that's the third time you've gone to break up the Wheelers' argument…."

A snort.

"With him cheating on her every other week, I'm surprised it's not more," Mother chuckled.

"No, that's not what I meant," said Miranda, blushing and bowing her head in shame. "I mean the same argument with the same words at the same time. It's been yes- er, 'today' for three days now." She glanced up at Mother to gauge her reaction. She half expected to be yelled or laughed at, but no, just a raised eyebrow.

"Three days," she repeated, with a hint of skepticism.

"Yes. Every morning I've gotten up, eaten breakfast, and read the same newspaper. When I leave the house the children tease me and try to throw mud at me. I take the bus downtown to look for jobs without any luck, and end up at the same bus stop with the same blond woman applying makeup. I go to the grocery store to get dinner. On the walk home I'm splashed by dirty water. I eat in front of the TV, and at 6:45 on the dot, the Wheelers fight. You come to break up the fight shortly thereafter. By then I'm so tired I go to bed. But I get up the next day to find everything the same as yesterday- same clothes ready to wear, same amount of money in my wallet, everything." Miranda's voice trembled as she said this, and Mother's brow furrowed.

"Have you tried talking to anyone else about this?" she asked.

"I asked the woman at the bus stop, but she didn't seem to realize it was happening. No one does. Am… am I going insane?" said Miranda.

"Well, I certainly haven't noticed such a thing," Mother murmured. Miranda bowed her head further in despair. "Miss Lotto." A gnarled hand rested atop hers, and she looked up. Mother's face was stern, but her eyes were soft. "Just because an old crone like me doesn't notice, doesn't mean something's not happening. I don't know what's going on, so I'm unable to do anything about it. But I do have some advice for you," she said.

"You do?" said Miranda, barely daring to believe it.

"Yes. If this happens again, if tomorrow is still 'today,' I want you to sit down in front of a mirror. I want you to look at your reflection and tell it everything that's bothering you." She gave a crooked grin. "Then we'll see how crazy you are."

Miranda wondered whether she was was supposed to feel insulted, but there was something in the way she'd said it that made it seem like more was lingering beneath the surface.

"Tell my reflection?" she whispered. Mother nodded sagely.

"That's all I've got, really. Do you want some tea? Barba can put on a kettle…."

"No, no, I don't think so. But thank you," said Miranda, standing up. "I think I'll go home. I'm afraid I left the door open, silly me…." She chuckled unevenly.

"Good night then, Miss Lotto," said Mother with a smile. "I hope tomorrow comes for you."

Miranda hoped so too.

* * *

That night she had a nightmare. it wasn't the record, but it made her miss the backwardness.

No, this time she was kneeling in the dark, unable to see anything beyond herself and the object in her hands- a set of headphones with crosses on the sides. The floor below was wet and smelled like something she just couldn't identify, though it lingered at the edge of her mind. It wasn't the imagery that scared her. She just knew, deep down in her bones, that these headphones belonged to someone who was supposed to be here. He wasn't, and it terrified her. And then she realized blood was soaking into her jeans.

* * *

Miranda jolted awake seconds before the alarm went off. The beeping scared her out of her wits, and with a shriek, she attacked it. The clock toppled off the nightstand, muffled slightly by the carpet. At that point she realized what the noise was, and calmed herself down. _Deep breaths. Deep breaths._ Once sufficiently calm, she picked up the clock and turned it off.

She was wearing purple pajamas again. She'd made sure to wear the pink set, but no, purple. Opening the dresser confirmed her fears. All the shirts were clean. But because she was still in denial, she walked to the front door and opened it. The newspaper sat on the porch, in the same place as every other November 24th. Miranda gave the thing her best 'bad luck laserbeam.' The paper was unfazed. Damn it all. So she picked it up and surveyed the contents.

November 24. She wanted to cry.

She dropped the paper right there on the porch and slouched back inside. She hauled herself back to her bedroom, grabbing a chair from the kitchen as she went. She stood this in front of her dresser and plunked down onto it. Above her dresser there was a large rectangular mirror, set in a simple wooden frame. It was conveniently placed, so…. She stared at her reflection, and was struck by just how _tired_ she looked. Her lips twisted, and she forced herself to look directly into her own eyes. Might as well try Mother's advice.

"Today is the fourth November 24th," she said to herself. "Everything's the same. The people, the events, the weather, everything. No one remembers. It's like the time keeps resetting itself and I'm the only one who notices. I… I can't take another day of this. It's too much."

She stared for a bit longer, and her shoulders slumped. She looked utterly defeated. "I'm insane," she muttered, reaching up to wipe her eyes. "I've gone crazy." She chuckled a bit through her tears. After a while she gave up on trying to stop the flow. Who was there to watch her, anyway? Her hands fell to her sides. She blinked her eyes a little clearer and gave the mirror a watery smile.

Her expression froze. Slowly, it morphed into terror, and she screamed. Because suddenly, that wasn't her reflection anymore.

* * *

And here's the first chapter of my more modern, AU Rewinding City. Miranda will be the main character, but in later chapters there will be shifting POVs...


	2. Smile for the Mirror

The face that looked back at her was bone white, the same as the hair that fell lank around the round face. Its eyes were like big, deep, pockets of swirling blackness. An odd jagged mark topped with a pentagram crossed one of those eyes. Below and covering the pale neck, a high collared coat began, made of dark material that seemed to have blue clouds shifting under the surface, swirling black, scribbly lines shivering on top. A dull blue ribbon was tied at the neck. The whole figure looked in constant motion- more of the sketchy lines seemed to dance about its oddly cartoony form.

It just sat there, looking distinctly out of place right where her reflection should be, with the familiar backdrop of the bedroom behind it.

Miranda's scream gradually tapered off into silence as she realized it wasn't doing anything. So she just gurgled in distress and confusion.

"I really am insane," she squeaked.

"No you're not," said the thing. Its voice was oddly muffled, as if stifled by the glass. It was definitely male.

Miranda chuckled at it - _him_, head still whirling. "Well if I'm not, then what are you and why are you in my mirror?" A hallucination, her brain supplied helpfully. It's a hallucination and you're attempting conversation with it. Good god you've really lost it.

"Well I'm human," he said, his little nose wrinkling in disgust or confusion, she couldn't tell, "And I'm here because I heard you. You said it's been the same day four times? And you're the only one who knows?"

"Yes…" said Miranda. Knowing her luck, even this oddity in the mirror wouldn't believe her. She braced herself for it.

"How strange. We could tell something was happening, we just didn't know what."

"Wait, you believe me?" she said, awestruck.

"It matches up pretty well with what we know," he replied, tilting his head to the side a bit. "See, your city's been cut off from the world for three days. No one's been able to get in and no one's coming out. If there's a time loop or something trapping everyone here, that makes sense."

"Have you dealt with thinks like this before?" said Miranda. As he opened his mouth, her eyes widened and she blurted, "Wait. Are you an _alien_?" She'd had a flash of memory of the Doctor Who episode from last night, and for a split second she was convinced this was a Timelord come to rescue her… but then he started laughing. His hands (the left was a bit darker blue than the rest of him, with a cross on the back) flew up to smother it, but his shoulders shook all the same.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm not. I'm just a human," he chuckled.

"Well what kind of human talks to people through a mirror?" Miranda said quickly, trying to cover up that embarrassing mistake. The boy's hands moved away from his face, revealing a melancholy smile.

"That kind what's trapped here," he said softly.

Miranda didn't know what to say. The boy shifted uneasily, sketchiness wavering with the movement.

"You know how sometimes, you see a movement in the mirror, just at the corner of your eye, but when you turn to look at it, nothing's there? We're a bit like that. No one can actually focus on us unless there's a connection."

"What do you mean by connection?" said Miranda.

"Well, this is ours. You're looking for help with your rewinding town, and I'm here to try to help. It's a very temporary connection, so as soon as you stop talking to me, all you'll see is your reflection again," he said.

"I-is there a way to make the connection permanent? Or… well, not permanent, but longer?" said Miranda. She didn't want to lose the only person who knew what was going on.

"That would rehire a contract, to… well, _bind_ me here," he said, looking a little uncomfortable. "You'd be able to see and communicate with me, but that keeps me in the in-between, stuck in the limbo between your world and mine." 'Your world and mine.' And he said he wasn't an alien. Balderdash.

"Would that be okay?" she said quietly.

"I think so. If I was able to get in here despite the time problem, the others should too," he said, and nodded to himself. "Right…. I'm willing to make a contract with you, miss…?"

"Lotto. Miranda Lotto," she said with a sigh of relief.

He placed his hands on the glass, palms facing her. "Put your hands over mine, and we'll make a contract. Though I warn you, I'm not in the habit of making them. It's just going to be the bare bones," he said. Miranda stood quickly and placed her hands on the mirror. She felt no hands, no warmth. He might as well not have been there. He began to speak in a deeper voice, one that seemed to rumble like distant thunder. "I, Allen Walker, apprentice of Marian Cross and denizen of the Ark, offer a contract to Miranda Lotto, denizen of Mater. I will offer my assistance in the case of the rewinding town and attempt to set things back to their normal course. This contract will last for thirty days, or until Mater is in its correct time stream. Do you accept these terms?"

"Y-yes," said Miranda, as determinedly as she could manage.

Silence reigned for about ten seconds before she gasped in pain. She made as if to move backward, but he said quickly, "Hands on the mirror, Miranda," so she forced herself to keep them in place. There was a prickling, uncomfortable feeling following the stab of pain, centered on the back of her right hand. She watched, borderline disgusted, as a small black cross burned its way into existence on her skin.

"What is this?" she breathed.

"That's the physical proof of our contract. Transferral of power leaves a mark," he replied, finally taking his hands down. He turned his left over to show the cross on the back, now gleaming a bright green. The hand itself seemed to be a bit more red, the ghosts of black fingernails making their appearance as well.

Miranda brought her hands closer to her and ran a thumb over the the new cross. The raised skin stung a little at the touch, but it wasn't much worse than a paper cut.

"All right, Allen," she said, testing the name. "What now?"

"The key to this is finding the source of the problem. And since this is the sort of problem your world typically doesn't have, I think I know the source."

"And that is…?"

"Innocence."

* * *

If there were two things Lenalee loved in the world, it was her brother Komui, and her Komui's chocolate chip pancakes.

Honestly, those pancakes were the only things he could cook, but he refined them to the point that they were a delicacy. If he opened a pancake house and only sold those chocolate chip pancakes, they'd still be set for life. But he only made pancakes on Saturday mornings, at 8:30 on the dot. That was the highlight of Lenalee's week. So she was a bit surprised - thrilled, but surprised - when he made them on Sunday too. She didn't question it then. But when Monday rolled in and he made them _again_, she got uneasy. Especially when he went on to say, "What are you talking about? It's Saturday, you're not late for school!"

She ran to school anyway and was shocked when it was, indeed, closed. Now it was Tuesday, or it was supposed to be Tuesday, and he was making the pancakes again.

_Again_.

He hummed at the stove, just as he had for the past three days, without a care in the world. Lenalee just sat at the kitchen table, confused and troubled. She had no idea what to say or do, so she just scratched at her ankles and watched.

* * *

To be completely honest, Yu Kanda had been the first to notice that something was up. Because you see, Yu Kanda didn't live in Mater- he lived in a suburb of the city. He'd drive in around 8:00 in the morning on weekdays to get to his first class at the Rose Cross College (9 or 10:00 on Saturdays to lurk in the library for the day), hang out on campus until the second class was over, then head back and be home around 4:30. He desperately wished he could live in the dorms, but no, there were _two_ boys being sent to college in this 'family,' and their 'father' was an artist, not a millionaire. They couldn't afford dorms.

Anyway. He was driving home on the original November 24, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as the car cruised down Gray Street. It was the long stretch on the way home- ten minutes on Gray Street, hang a left onto Eden Road, another left on Galmar, and so on…. It was hardwired into his brain at this point, so he was on autopilot for the most part. He'd snap out of it a few minutes before the turn, usually. But this time his brain didn't wake for the turn, instead because of a niggling sensation that he'd been driving too long. So he snapped back into focus, still on Gray Street.

He could see the stoplights up ahead, the trees and houses on the sides of the road, the elementary school…. This was normal. Why did he feel uneasy?

He tightened his grip on the wheel and narrowed his eyes. Ahead, the stoplights flicked to yellow. He was close, he could make it. So he sped up, going through the intersection just as the light went red….

There was a slight popping in his ears, and everything shifted. He jumped a bit in his seat, the car doing a slight swerve as a result before being pulled back into line. Kanda looked about wildly. He was still on Gray Street, just the wrong end of the elementary school. He'd just passed that thing. Disgruntled, he looked ahead. There were the lights again, going into yellow. He sped up once more, switching lanes to pass a red sportscar before zooming across the intersection.

_Pop_.

What the hell.

He was on the other side of the school again, a block from the lights. He ground his teeth together, stomping on the gas. A green van honked angrily as he rocketed by, before the light even went yellow.

_Pop_.

Five times he tried to get through, to the increasing annoyance of the other drivers. On the sixth try, he'd had enough. As soon as he heard the pop, he hit the brakes. The car skidded to a halt with a rare screech. The SUV behind him honked, swerving around him. Kanda paid it no heed, instead swinging the wheel around and driving into the school parking lot. He parked badly and got out of the car to glare at the source of his trouble.

It was… weird. The cars would vanish as soon as they crossed the intersection, only to reappear at the other end of the block, going right back in loop after loop after loop. Beyond that intersection, as far as he could see, it was a ghost town. The houses were dark, and no one was outside. Not altogether uncommon, but with the loop….

Kanda stalked over to the edge, where the cars were disappearing. After a moment of hesitation, he walked forward. It was as if someone had twirled him around and sent him marching back, because now he felt slightly nauseous and was looking back at his car. He couldn't even remember turning around! He tried again. And again. And again. And by that time he collapsed to his knees, feeling very pissed off and very sick to his stomach. He took a moment to compose himself (no way was he going to puke), then went back to his car.

He sat down and fished out his cell phone, hitting the speed dial for his foster father. Tiedoll may not know what was going on, but Kanda knew the old man would panic if he wasn't back by 4:30. And that was in - he checked the clock and his eyes widened - that was twenty minutes ago. Tiedoll was freaking by now.

"We're sorry," said a voice from his phone. "The number you've called is not available. Please check the number and try your call again."

He held the device away from his ear and gave it a look of disgust. What. The. Hell.

He slammed the car door shut and drove off. He went back to Rose Cross campus. Somewhere very, very deep down he was nervous, and he wanted a home base or something. Somewhere away from the crazy. The car was okay, but he didn't much like the idea of sleeping in there overnight. So he went to the Winters dorm and rode the elevator to the fifth floor. This was a rare co-ed floor, so he found the RA woman and managed to convince her to give him Lavi Bookman's spare key (this consisting of a lot of glaring from Kanda, a grunt about the key, and the girl practically melting into a puddle before handing it over).

Lavi was out of town for the weekend, so the room was deserted, save for the mess. Kanda recalled something about the guy's roommate getting so fed up with him he left, and this mess, he decided, was enough to drive anyone insane. He kicked aside papers, pencils, notebooks and wrappers, clearing a path to the unmade bed, where he sat down. He took out his phone again and proceeded to try to call every single person in his contact list. Which admittedly wasn't very long. He had the same result every time; _We're sorry, the number you've called is unavailable_…. The only contact who answered was the local Pizza Hut. So he resigned himself to ordering a pizza and sulking the rest of the night.

The next morning at around 5 AM, Kanda tried again. He went early with the idea that he wouldn't have to deal with other cars, in case that loop happened again. And that was a good choice, because god damn it, it did.

_Pop._

_Pop._

_Pop._

At the fourth time, the car skidded to a halt in the middle of the intersection. Kanda clambered out. He stormed to the crosswalk and proceeded to cuss out that Iwall/ or whatever the hell it was. In his rage, he picked up a rock and chucked it as hard as he could. It vanished as soon as it crossed the walk, but not even a second later it reappeared in the same place, at the same velocity but going the opposite direction. Kanda had to duck quickly to avoid getting nailed in the head. Instead, the rock hit the car, leaving a dent on the hood that prompted another stream of curses.

He plopped down in the road and tried his contact list again. No one picked up except the recording for Pizza Hut, listing their hours.

He drove back to campus to sulk and scare random people in the Winters dorm lobby. Lavi wasn't due back until Tuesday or something, so no one would mind him there, right? Except, he found that he didn't have the key. He went to confront the RA about it, and she acted the same way as she did before and handed over the key. Kanda just glared at her, but inside he was suspicious. No one had ever managed to steal something from him before, especially out of his front pocket.

He sat in Lavi's room again and flipped open his books to check his homework, for lack of a better thing to do. He was horrified to find that all of it was gone. Blank. The empty chart for the Japanese te-form mocked him from the workbook. The great Yu Kanda actually dropped his pencil in shock. He got over it quickly, though. He just grit his teeth and did the work over again. He ordered another pizza.

On Monday morning, Kanda crawled out of Lavi's bed with a distinct hatred for the world. Oddly, the first thing he noticed was that the pizza box was gone, as was that clear path on the floor. And, when he checked, the key was gone. He decided to ignore that. His brain hurt so much less that way.

He rifled through Lavi's drawers and took some clothes before taking a quick shower. He'd been wearing the same clothes for two days and nights now, so he was bound to stink at this point. Once he was done, he dropped by the RA's room and told her how Lavi's door was unlocked (her eyes were directed at the wrong place, and Kanda found himself very annoyed with Lavi's taste in tight pants). After that he stormed off to class. Only to find that there was no class.

Disturbed, he checked his watch and noticed for the first time that it said _Saturday_. He dropped his bag and dug out his homework quickly, opening the workbook to a blank te-form chart.

"Well crap," he muttered.

He swung the bag back onto his shoulder and sprinted to the parking lot. He ran up to his car and wasn't sure whether to rejoice or scream, because the dent from yesterday was gone. He tossed the bag in the back and shoved his keys in the ignition.

What followed was another long series of vain attempts at getting out of Gray Street. When that didn't work, he tried other streets. He drove all around the edge of mater, trying time and again to get out, but every time, _pop_- and he was a block away from the damn exit. Finally, at 11:57 PM, he gave up. He stopped the car on Gray Street, back in the place he'd started, and set it into park. He glared at the intersection and slammed his hand down on the dashboard with a curse, practically shaking in frustration.

He was trapped. Trapped like a rat, with no lifelines except freaking Pizza Hut.

He began to swear at the situation with every word he knew, and wished he knew some Japanese ones. Halfway through his tirade, the clock hit midnight. Kanda's speech tapered off. It felt as if he'd suddenly lost control of his tongue. He was slumping in his seat, the surroundings blurry, and for some reason, he could only summon up a mild irritation.

Next thing he knew, he snapped his eyes open and sat bolt upright. He was in Lavi's bed, and he was wearing his own clothes, not the borrowed ones. For a moment he considered the idea that Lavi had come back and found him in the street, but there were several things wrong with that.

1: No one touched his car. No one.

2: Lavi would never give up his bed for another guy.

3: Lavi would never change somebody's clothes while they were asleep, unless it was for a prank.

4: Lavi wasn't there.

The list went on, but those four were enough for Kanda. He swung his legs off the bed and checked his watch.

Saturday.

It was supposed to be Tuesday, damn it.

* * *

Lavi Bookman did not have the distinct pleasure of experiencing three extra November 24ths.

He'd gone back home for the weekend, and spent his Friday through Sunday getting the crap kicked out of him by his grandpa. On the plane ride back, he'd been looking forward to returning to classes, annoying Kanda, and hitting on hot girls. As planned, he was picked up at the airport Monday afternoon by Tiedoll, Kanda's adopted father, but that was when he found something was off.

Tiedoll was crying. He was in such a state that he only managed a garbled, "Hello, Lavi," before breaking down into unintelligible gibberish. Lavi tried to comfort him, but he wasn't exactly an expert on this whole comfort thing. Especially when he had no idea what the problem was. He didn't manage to get any information out of Tiedoll either, so he was confused when the old man drove to his house, not Rose Cross. Daisya and Marie (Kanda's brothers) were actually at home, and it was from them that Lavi got the story.

Mater was in a bubble.

It was like a big circle was drawn around the city, and no one could get past it; like some big invisible wall had built itself overnight. A few cars had actually been wrecked on it- crumpling up for seemingly no reason, ramming into something that wasn't there. No one in Mater was answering their phones (Tiedoll had tried calling Kanda multiple times, but couldn't even get his voicemail).

And the creepiest part? It was like no one was there. Looking in from the ground, you couldn't see anyone outside - no people, no cars, no dogs, no birds, no nothing - there was no movement whatsoever, and even Marie with his super-ears couldn't hear a damn thing in there. A few helicopters had been sent up for an aerial view, and their cameras showed the same things: empty streets, no sign of life. Lavi watched it on the TV in Tiedoll's living room, and felt a bit sick when it passed over the Rose Cross campus.

Where _was_ everyone? No one knew. But everyone was talking about it. And those who weren't arguing about it on a talk show? They just kinda sat there. That's what Lavi was doing, Tuesday morning.

He, Daisya, and one of the neighborhood kids, Jean, were standing on Gray Street, behind the intersection next to Wenham Elementary School: right on the edge of the invisible line. Lavi alternated between glancing from the street, to his companions, to his half empty coffee cup. The warmth had drained out of the drink a while ago, but it was something to occupy his mind, since the others didn't seem ready to do anything. Daisya looked unusually somber, with shadows under his eyes, the spikes of his brown hair wilted, and a forlorn expression replacing his usual mischievous smirk. He really didn't look like himself without it. And Jean, despite wearing an aviator hat and goggles (which should've made him look ridiculous), looked way too solemn for a twelve-year-old. It was depressing, being around these people.

To Lavi's slight surprise, Jean was the one to break the silence.

"Leo's in there," he muttered. He looked down at the ball in his arms, then tossed it. It bounced off of thin air about three feet in front of them and sailed back into his hands. He didn't seem too surprised. Maybe he'd been doing it a lot lately. "He went to the playground on Saturday, but Dad wouldn't let me go with him since I had homework." The ball bounced again. "Now that I think of it, Timothy lives over there too. I bet half my class is gone now."

"Shouldn't you be in class? It _is_ Tuesday," Lavi mused. "Oh. Wait. You go to Wenham, don't you?"

"Nope, I go to the private school. But if Dad thinks I'm going, he's got another thing coming," Jean scowled. He tossed the ball a bit more viciously this time.

"Well, at least you've still got half. Most of my class lives on campus, so my entire school's been swallowed up," said Lavi.

"Wait, even Kanda?" said Jean, looking puzzled. Apparently the kid knew Kanda. But of course, Kanda being Kanda, he was kind of distinct in the neighborhood….

"Yeah, even Kanda," Daisya sighed. "He went to school to get homework done or something. Library, he said. Never came back." He looked down at the road under their feet, and back up at the intersection beyond, with an odd expression Lavi couldn't identify. "He always comes home on Gray Street, every day, always back at 4:15 or something. Like freaking clockwork."

"Yu loves his routines," said Lavi, smiling weakly.

"It's just wrong without him around. He's a bastard, yeah, but it's still just _wrong_," said Daisya.

"He's fine," said Jean. Daisya scowled at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

Jean gave him a look that clearly asked 'are-you-really-that-stupid?' "It's Kanda. Nobody messes with Kanda," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. For a moment Daisya and Lavi stared at him, and then they burst out laughing. It was a really stupid reason, but it actually made them feel much better. Lavi felt as if he'd just taken off a heavy coat. Daisya kept guffawing, and Jean was sniggering too now, but Lavi's mirth died into chuckles as he took out his phone and flipped it open.

He'd tried calling almost everyone he knew on campus when he'd heard about the situation, but he'd never tried Kanda. He'd thought if Tiedoll couldn't get through, he had no chance either… but what was the harm? He dialed the number and held the phone to his ear. After a moment, his eye widened, and he dropped his cup. Daisya and Jean looked up at the noise.

"Something wrong, Lavi?" Daisya asked.

"When Tiedoll called, he got that error message thing, right?" said Lavi.

"Yeah?"

"I just called Kanda, and it's ringing."

"What?" gasped Daisya, and he and Jean rushed closer in an attempt to hear the phone better.

It was true- the noise was a bit distorted, but he could hear the ring all the same.

"Come on, pick up, pick up…." he mumbled. There was a click, and they all waited with baited breath. There was a split second of silence, and then _noise_. It was like static, but sharper almost, and at tremendous volume. Lavi swore and clapped a hand over his abused ear, holding the phone at arm's length. Even Daisya and Jean had jumped back at the sound. Lavi had half a mind to shut the damn thing, but then they heard snatches of sound, a voice.

"Stu-ra-t-wh-ka-"

"Kanda! It's Kanda!" said Daisya, awestruck.

Lavi brought the phone closer, reluctant to be near that volume again, but he needed to be heard. "Kanda!" he said loudly, "It's Lavi! What the hell is going on? Where are you?"

"R-ut-D-d-d-nt-ome in here! I-t-windi-g-ay-i!"

"I can't understand you!" said Lavi, frustrated, and Kanda's voice came back, sounding immensely pissed off, even in the tiny clips that came through.

"-aid-on-co-ere!-I-rewi-ing-!"

"Say what?" said Daisya.

"Don-co-"

And the static overwhelmed the voice, reaching a deafening pitch before vanishing entirely. A dial tone was all that was left. They all looked at the phone, as if expecting more.

"What the hell?" Lavi said at last.

"I think that freaked me out even more…" said Daisya, looking visibly shaken.

"But he's alive," Jean said quietly.

"Yeah… he is…." While the others mumbled, Lavi looked back at the intersection. This was the first contact in days. Did that mean the wall was getting weaker?

He snapped his phone shut and strode forward. In the worst case scenario, he'd walk into a wall. In the best case? He might figure out what was going on. He ignored the others' voices, lifted his chin up higher, set foot on the crosswalk… and gasped. He felt cold, and hot, and in pain, and numb, and so many conflicting things all at once in a tidal wave so strong, his legs stopped moving and threatened to give out.

Daisya and Jean didn't know what he was feeling. They just saw him walk up to the crosswalk and freeze. The air around him shivered, as if in a heat haze, and trembled about him, moving slowly and covering his body until he was nothing but a mirage, and then he faded entirely, as if he was never there.

* * *

It's more fun writing Lavi and Kanda, Miranda's pretty difficult to portray... as is Lenalee... Anyway, thought I'd update a bit earlier than planned. :)


	3. Better Start Running

"So let me get this straight," said Miranda, as she locked the door. "This…_Innocence_… is a magic material."

"Yep," Allen chirped from his current position, just barely visible and distorted in the reflection on the doorknob. "It's also known as the God Crystal, due to how much power it contains. It's broken into little pieces, but you gather enough of them together, and you get Old Testament scale tragedies. Think Noah's flood and Sodom and Gomorrah."

Miranda shuddered.

"And you think there's one in Mater."

"I don't know what else it could be. It's definitely magic, but not the variety or capacity of magicians, and I doubt it's caused by the Clan of Noah. They have no reason to interfere with your world," said Allen.

"So who is interfering, then? If Innocence is from your world, then it has to be one of your people, right?" said Miranda.

"Not necessarily. See, Innocence is… well, it's… how do I explain this…. Innocence is sentient. It choses people to wield it. It'll synchronize itself with a single person and for the most part obey them completely. But it's really picky, too. A shard can go thousands of years without its… um, we call them accommodators, but wielders, if you will. And to protect itself, or to test potential accommodators, it affects its surroundings. Strange things always happen around Innocence," he explained. "So your time loop problem- it's Innocence. Here's our options. One," he held up one finger, "Someone it doesn't deem worthy is trying to take it. So, it came up with this defense system to make the threat go away. We just have to stop that person, and I'll take the Innocence back to my world. Option two," a second finger, "it's got an accommodator, but it's out of control. Either the accommodator is too weak of will and unable to restrain its power, or they're hurt and it's trying to protect them from something. We find the accommodator and fix the problem, I may or may not take the Innocence. And option three," a third finger now, "It's waking up."

"Waking up? That makes it sound like a hibernating monster," said Miranda, forcing a smile.

"Er… well, it does hibernate sometimes," Allen laughed softly. "It can stay dormant for hundreds of years, and when it 'wakes,' it causes unnatural phenomenons; like ghosts, or plants growing where they shouldn't, or a stained glass window that keeps away bad people. I've run into those before."

"Well I'm glad at least one of us knows what we're doing," said Miranda.

"Who're you talking to?"

"Yeah, who're you talking to?"

With a start, Miranda whirled around. The children, all five of them, were standing at the steps, eying her oddly. One of the boys began to smile. "Talking to thin air, huh, Miranda? You've really gone crazy."

Miranda almost told him that no, she had been talking to the man in the doorknob, but really that was worse than thin air. So instead she gathered herself up in the most dignified manner she could and walked around them. The children seemed to find this normal enough to go back into the routine, and followed, chanting their song again. "Miranda, Miranda, she's all bad luck…." She dodged the mud again. They left her about halfway to the bus stop, as per usual. And, again as usual, she caught the bus just in time. She sat in the back, and as the bus began to move, she could see Allen's faint figure in the window. He looked almost angry.

"What's wrong?" she asked immediately.

"Those children. That was cruel," he growled. Miranda was surprised. Though she'd only known Allen for an hour or so, he'd struck her as kind, a bit shy, and very, very harmless. She hadn't thought he could growl.

"It's just a childhood thing," she said, shrugging hopelessly. "There's nothing I can do."

"Can't you talk to their parents? Tell them off?"

"Well I could, but no one takes me seriously," she sighed. "I'm just unlucky Miranda."

"Don't say that," he said, and he sounded pained.

"What, unlucky?"

"Yeah. If you keep saying things like that about yourself, you'll start to believe it," he said. _Too late for that_, Miranda thought. She'd already proven her worth (or lack thereof) many hundred times over. Poor Allen had lost that war before it had even begun.

"Forget that. Really, Allen, it's not important. What are we supposed to do to find the Innocence, if we don't know which option it is?" she said.

Allen frowned at the change in subject, but followed the new topic anyway. "Just do everything you did on the first November 24," he said.

"Wait, why?" she said, baffled.

"You're the only one who realizes what's going on. It only makes sense that you came in contact with the Innocence on the original day. You have remnants of its power on you, and that's what makes you different."

"Hang on, back up!" Miranda squeaked, holding up her hands to stop him. "If I can remember all of this just because I touched this Innocence, what happens to you? Will you forget everything tomorrow?"

"I'm not entirely sure about my situation," Allen admitted. "I don't know how much the Innocence will affect the limbo state. It's the jumble, or the absence between two worlds, not completely bound to one or the other. I might be out of its reach, but Innocence is still…. Well, we'll see in the morning. If I don't remember, just show me the mark on your hand and explain to me the terms of the contract."

"But what if you're not there?" Miranda whimpered. "What if it takes you to wherever you started this morning?"

"Then Alma will ask what the hell I'm doing, and I'll come back to Mater to figure out what's going on," said Allen. "Either way, I'll feel the contract and follow it back to you."

"That's a relief," Miranda sighed. Allen chuckled.

"Don't worry about that right now. Just do what you usually do, and we'll both keep our eyes open for any sign of Innocence."

"But how do you know? How can we tell if there's Innocence?" said Miranda, glancing about. A few of the other passengers were looking at her from the corner of their eyes. They probably couldn't hear Allen and thought she was talking to herself. Just what she needed. Allen seemed to notice this, because he began to look more uncomfortable.

"Innocence is an anomaly, so basically, we're looking for something that doesn't act the same every day. You're an anomaly. We need to find more of them, they'll give us a trail back to the Innocence. The Innocence itself is small. It looks like a tiny cube," he said, holding up a hand with thumb and forefinger perhaps half an inch apart, "that glows bright green. There are two gear-like structures around it. It's highly doubtful we'll find that pure Innocence fragment, though. More than likely, it'll be inside something and affecting the city through the thing it's possessing. If it has an accommodator, it's working through the accommodator's weapon. Ah!" He held up his hands as Miranda opened her mouth. "Don't talk, I'm already making everything different. We want it to stay the same. I'll try to explain, but please don't draw attention."

"Sorry," Miranda mumbled, blushing in embarrassment.

"No, it's okay," said Allen. Miranda nodded and motioned for him to go on.

"Okay, well, weapons…. When a piece of Innocence finds its accommodator, it manifests itself as a weapon, or as something that can be used as a weapon. Which makes sense, as its existence is meant to destroy Dark Matter, its opposite. The weapon it forms is unique to the accommodator. I won't go into depth about it. It gets more complex and confusing, and it's really more of a my-world problem."

Miranda nodded again, her mind in a whirl. She hoped to god this wasn't an Innocence weapon, that seemed like it would be so much trouble…. But if it was, it was attracted to Dark Matter, right? So Mater was overrun by Dark Matter? Dark Matter, dark magic, whatever, it was all the same! Mater was doomed!

"It's okay, it's nothing to get worked up over!" Allen said quickly. Apparently the anxiety had shown on her face.

"B-but…."

"It'll be fine. I'll be able to sense if there's any danger. Today is just another Saturday, just do what you normally do. Pretend I'm not even here."

He gave her a big smile and walked to the left. Miranda's eyes followed the movement, and widened when he failed to appear in the next window. He was gone!

"A-Allen?" she whimpered, terrified.

"I'm still here, just out of sight. Don't worry, Miranda," his voice said soothingly, but he didn't show himself. Miranda curled in on herself and stared at her shoes the rest of the ride.

Getting off the bus downtown, she caught the faintest glimpse of him in a signpost, but he vanished again. Feeling a little more reassured, she adjusted her purse and held her head high before making her way through the routine. She had no luck with jobs, not that she was expecting any. It was the same round of rejections as usual. She wasted the time away with that until lunch, and at that point went to McDonald's. The place was busy, and she had to wait in line for a while before ordering her burger. She sat at a table near the middle to eat, and looked up. In this particular restaurant, the owners had hung a long, tilted mirror from the ceiling to reflect the patrons below. She could see Allen up there, surreal and blue amidst the colors of the other reflections. He was in the same spot as Miranda, but his hair was lifted as if he was hanging upside down like the mirror, and he was munching on some sort of fruit she couldn't identify.

She didn't see him again until 4:30 at the bus stop- he was peering around from the makeup-woman's compact mirror. It looked ridiculous, and Miranda had to stifle a giggle. The woman looked around at the noise.

"Did you say something?" she said flatly.

"Oh, no, no I didn't. But you look very nice today, miss," said Miranda. No way was she getting this woman mad again. The woman looked surprised for a moment, then smiled and muttered a quiet thank you before going back to her makeup (much to Miranda's relief). She got on the bus and sat in the back as usual. A glance around showed the same passengers who'd been there every November 24th. She sighed and dug her cell phone out of her purse. She held it up to her ear and said, "Allen?"

A shift of movement in the window announced his presence.

"Yes?" he said quietly.

"I didn't see anything odd. It's all the same. What now?"

"We've still got the rest of the day."

"But…!"

"Not so loud!" Allen squeaked. "We're not drawing attention, remember?"

"Oh, it's fine. See?" she said, pointing discreetly at the phone. Allen just looked lost.

"That… that makes people ignore you?"

"Uh, no. It's a phone. A communication device?" said Miranda. At the exaggerated frown and tilted head, she realized, "Oh! You don't have them where you come from, do you?"

"No, we have golems for communications. But if phones are like golems, talking to it makes sense…" he muttered.

Miranda wondered what a golem was, and resolved to ask later. Instead, she said, "After this I go to the grocery store and then home. Do you really think the Innocence is hiding in a grocery store?"

"Maybe inside something someone's wearing at the grocery store. I said before, it's very tricky," said Allen, shrugging.

Miranda heaved a tired sigh and slouched in her seat. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the bouncing of the vehicle. Tiredly, she asked, "What if we don't find it?"

"Then we have tomorrow to look again, I guess."

Miranda opened her eyes and gave him a look. It was a look of hopelessness and despair, the kind of dark, soul-sucking look that could send someone spiraling into the depths of gloom and pity and other generally negative emotions. She knew this due to experience- she had to look at herself in the mirror everyday, and had the nasty habit of accidentally using it on herself, which made her feel worse, which would affect _the look_, which would further suffocate her ego, which would just spin in an awful cycle until she felt ready to curl up and die. But she wasn't looking at her reflection now, just at Allen, and only with level one of the look. Nevertheless, he was fidgeting and looked like he was heading closer and closer to a nervous breakdown.

There was a flicker of movement behind him, and Miranda focused on that. her brow furrowed, and then she leapt up, tugging sharply on the stop signal.

"Miranda?" said Allen, startled.

"Something different!" she said breathlessly. "Something different!"

It took forever for the bus to pull over, and Miranda was out of the doors before they were even fully open. She broke into a run- it had gone two blocks further than she needed, so she had to be fast in case they were leaving! She took a sharp left and sprinted down the street, only slowing as she approached the parking lot of a small grocery store. Two young men were there, doing tricks on skateboards.

"Excuse me!" Miranda called, stumbling to a stop by the curb. The younger man jumped, the skateboard below flipped, and he landed back onto it with a loud clack, before they both looked up at her.

"Uh, hello," said the older, a wide-eyed man wearing a pale yellow hood and a muffler over his lower face. "Is something wrong?"

"Y-yes! I mean, no! I mean…. You're not usually here!" Miranda panted, still out of breath. The two glanced at each other, confusion written all over their faces.

"Um... no, no we're not…."

"I'm sorry. I've just never seen anyone down here at this time of day," she said, hoping to cover up her mistake.

"Oh. Well, we're usually over by Wenham Elementary, but apparently something's going on over there," said the man, shrugging helplessly. "This is our backup."

"Wenham?" Miranda repeated, trying desperately to remember where that was. The second stranger, a short, slim young man with black hair and piercing blue eyes, considered her for a moment before speaking up.

"There was a little boy there who told us to leave. Is he a relative of yours?"

"What do you mean?" said Miranda.

"He had the same eyes," said the young man. He ducked his head, and his words became a bit harder to hear, but still audible. "Very confused, and scared, and a little bit annoyed. Mostly scared and confused, though, like he was lost. Are you in the same situation?"

Miranda blinked at him, and took a moment to collect her thoughts. It was like he knew something was wrong, but didn't know what. "I-I don't know. Maybe," she said slowly. "I'd have to ask. Do you know if he's still there?"

"Probably," said the young man. His hooded companion nodded.

"He looked ready to stay there for a while, yeah. It's been maybe forty minutes."

"All right. Thank you so much for your help!" said Miranda, and she turned back the way she'd come. She heard them talking as she left.

"Do you really think we should've told her about that kid?"

"Don't worry, Toma. She's good."

* * *

Despite what a lot of people thought, Timothy Hearst wasn't stupid.

He knew he was digging himself an early grave whenever he tried to grope Emilia. He knew it was a bad idea when Jean started bringing his onion bombs to class. He knew when his parents began to hate each other's guts. They were things he felt deep down in the core of his being, a twinge of something, but a feeling he largely ignored. It was always more fun when he ignored the twinge, even if he sometimes felt guilty for it.

But for the past four days he'd been having twinges left and right. It was fun in the beginning, when he found out that it was always Saturday. No school was always a plus! But the longer it went, the more he felt that it was just _wrong_. It was like he was an observer, watching the anthill before water flooded in to drown everything. And that feeling deep down left no doubt that the water was coming. So he tried talking to others about it.

Emilia had told him he was being stupid. He countered with the argument that _she_ was stupid and had a zit the size of Mt. Everest on her forehead. Which resulted in him being chased out of the house. Inspector Galmar just shooed him off and he knew his parents wouldn't listen, so he turned to his own age group. Angela just nodded, but he could see the skepticism in her eyes. Archie and Eeez were much the same. Colette actually asked if this was a game or prank. So now he was with his last resort. Leo.

The blond boy was on a swing on the Wenham Elementary playground (Jean was usually glued to his side, so it was a little weird that the guy was alone). Timothy had tried to convince him that something weird was happening, but Leo just laughed at him. It was like everyone else's reaction, but the twinge was saying that this was his last resort. He needed to convince Leo. So he plunked himself down on another swing and kept arguing. If anything, Leo just found it amusing. He didn't find it so amusing when Timothy chased off a pair of skateboarders - "Hey, those guys are cool!" - but Timothy couldn't bring himself to care. The clacking of wheels had been annoying him.

But now, as evening was settling in, he almost wished they were back. He'd fallen into silence that seemed much, much too quiet. The only noise was the squeaking of Leo's swing, and even that died as he stopped moving his legs. Over on Gray Street, a car with a bad muffler rumbled by.

As that noise faded, the twinge came back. Only this time instead of saying 'something's wrong,' it was saying 'get out of there, NOW.' Timothy shuddered.

"Hey, Leo," he said, trying to keep the tremor from his voice. "Do you want to come over to my house for dinner?"

"Nah. Mom's gonna freak if I miss her tuna casserole," said Leo, pulling a face.

"Oh. Well, are you leaving now, then?" said Timothy. He prayed yes.

"I think I'll stay here a little longer," Leo said with a shrug.

"Uh…. You should really go home. Like… now," said Timothy.

"What do you mean?" said Leo.

Timothy averted his gaze, looking instead at the open gate. There was a homeless-looking guy shuffling in. He looked suspicious.

"I mean it would be a really good idea to go eat that tuna casserole right now."

"_Tuna casserole_. And my mom sucks at cooking in the first place. I'm avoiding it as long as I can!" said Leo.

"Oh, man up!" Timothy groused, eyes still following the homeless guy. He was coming closer, and something about his bulbous eyes and slow gait was making the twinge worse. _Predator_, whispered something in his mind. Feeling sick, Timothy stood up. "Dude, we should really go."

"Dude?" said Leo, confused. "Tim, you sure you're okay?"

"No, I think that guy's after us," said Timothy, nodding at the man. Leo looked like he'd only just noticed the guy.

"Uh… wow, he's creepy," he muttered. "So… up for tuna casserole?"

"Yeah, let's…."

"Hello," said the man, in a cracked voice. Timothy froze, very tense. From the corner of his eye, he could see Leo getting off the swing. _Bad vibe, bad vibe, bad vibe!_ "I'm looking for something. perhaps you've seen it?" said the man, smiling to reveal chipped yellow teeth.

"No, we probably haven't," said Leo, wearing a false smile and nudging at Timothy to move toward the gate. "Excuse us." As they began to sidle away, then man turned as if to follow them.

"But maybe you've seen it…."

"Doubtful."

"But I'm looking for Innocence!" said the man, grinning so wide Timothy was surprised his face didn't crack. But that grin gave him the creeps. Leo must've felt the same, because his footsteps faltered.

Hang on. Wait.

"I-Innocence?" Timothy squawked. The guy was a rapist looking for virgins!

"You've seen it?" said the man.

"Oh god, Leo, we gotta run!" Timothy muttered. Leo nodded furiously, but before they could move, the man ripped. Literally.

A big tear went straight down the middle of his body, the skin and clothes peeling away to the side as a monster came out. It was huge, taller than the swing set, nearly as tall as the second floor windows of the school. Its face was square shaped, sickly colored, with long blunt teeth like piano keys. What looked like blond hair covered its eyes, and a white mask had been slapped onto the side of its head. Its body appeared to have been stitched together in blue and purple cloth. Its shoulders were merely stumps, but on its right, a dark blue column tipped with enormous fingernails floated like an arm.

"Where is the Innocence?" it said, and its voice sounded like death. "You will tell me."

Timothy nearly wet himself. Leo stammered something unintelligible, and the twinge came back with a vengeance.

"Leo," he squeaked, "Run."

They bolted for the gate, but that monstrosity was faster. In a flash, its patchwork body blocked their path.

"Innocence!" it hissed.

The boys screamed and turned tail, sprinting for the school building instead. They had gone maybe five feet when an awful, drawn out tearing sound came from behind. What followed was a flood of blinding purple light, and Timothy found himself sailing through the air. He hit the ground on his side, cracking his head on the blacktop so hard he saw stars, and tumbled head over heels into grass. That meant he was next to the building… how far had he flown? He curled up in pain, and to shield himself from the debris raining down on him. There was a crack and tinkling nearby, and he opened his eyes to squint around.

He _was_ next to the building, and the closest window had been smashed through with something, though jagged edges remained upright in the frame. The ground around him was littered with small chunks of asphalt. An entire portion, nearly ten feet across, of the blacktop was gone, the edges curled up and smoking. Leo was nowhere to be seen, but the monster was coming closer.

"Innocence!" it said, bearing down on him."Innocence!"

"Help!" Timothy choked, but he knew no one would come. "Somebody help me…."

"Hey, you!"

The shout drew his attention, and Timothy looked up in surprise. No one was there, but in one of the glass shards, he could see a flicker of movement, something pale.

"Yeah, you, with the blue hair! Make a contract with me, fast!"

…Contract?

* * *

Miranda's foot caught on the uneven sidewalk, nearly sending her sprawling, but she caught herself and kept running. There was a stitch in her side and she was gasping for breath, but she had to keep moving. It had taken forever to remember where Wenham Elementary was, and she'd gotten lost three times already. She had to hurry, or that little boy would be gone by the time she got there.

_How long is Gray Street, anyway?_ she wondered, a bit irritated. Wenham was on the corner of Gray and Millennium, but she'd been running along Gray Street for the past ten minutes and seen no sign of a school. But now, at long last, she caught a glimpse of a tall, square building peeking over the trees.

"Finally!" she panted. The trees thinned, a metal fence came into view….

"STOP!"

The sheer volume of the shout nearly gave her a heart attack. She stumbled to a halt and looked around for a reflection. She found it in the window of a house.

Typically Allen was only of the same visibility as the other reflections, but now he was stark in the remaining light. Two rings of bloody red had appeared in his left eye, glowing with frightening intensity in the black socket.

"Allen? What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's an Akuma up there," he said.

Miranda didn't know what an Akuma was supposed to be, but judging by his tone, it wasn't good. This thought was reinforced when, up ahead, a great monster lurched onto the sidewalk. Its skull-like head swiveled one way, then the other. Miranda felt the breath freeze in her lungs.

"What…. what…."

"Miranda," said Allen, and his voice was dangerously calm. "Move very slowly. Walk backward. Don't talk, don't draw its attention. Just walk _very slow_."

Miranda obeyed. First one foot, then the other, backing up at the speed of a snail. The monster lingered for a while, looking up and down the street as if searching for something, before retreating back behind the schoolyard fence. Miranda glanced at Allen. He eyed the place the monster had been for a while, then turned to her.

"Okay… run."

And Miranda fled the scene as fast as she could, previous fatigue forgotten. When she was five blocks away, she finally collapsed. By this time it was completely dark, and lights were on in the houses around. There were no reflections, but she called out anyway.

"A-Allen! What the hell was that?" she wheezed.

"An Akuma. It means things are a lot worse than I thought," Allen's voice replied, from what sounded like a distance.

"How bad?" said Miranda, squeezing her eyes shut.

"You remember what I said about Dark Matter, how it's the opposite of Innocence? Well, an Akuma is a Dark Matter weapon. it also searches out to destroy its opposite, but that's only a secondary function. It's main purpose is to murder people."

"Murder?" Miranda whimpered.

"The more people an Akuma kills, he stronger its power becomes. The stronger it is, the more likely it can kill an accommodator and have the Innocence destroyed. Akuma only obey a select few people, anyone else is prime target for dinner…."

"Then… w-what happened to the boy?"

There was a long pause. Then, at last, he reluctantly replied, "Either he left beforehand, or the Akuma killed him. I… I'm sorry, but it's probably the latter."

Miranda buried her head in her hands and began to cry.

"The Innocence could be reacting to the Akuma's presence…. but why would the Akuma be here in the first place, if it didn't know the Innocence was? There's no other reason for the Noah to send one over here, and it's not like anyone made a contract with it, right?" Allen puzzled quietly. The noise seeped into Miranda's mind, but she didn't give it much thought. "In any case, it's not safe out here anymore. Miranda, could you please go home?"

"What if more of those things are out there?" she moaned.

"Don't worry. I'll go on ahead and scout it out. I can see Akuma, so I can send you out of their way," said Allen.

Well of course he could _see_ them, they were only creatures the size of a small house. But Miranda kept that thought to herself and nodded. "Okay, I trust you. Just… let me rest for a little bit longer."

It was nearly three hours later that they finally reached Miranda's house. She didn't exactly live close to Wenham, and as it turned out, Allen's sense of direction was almost as lousy as hers. They didn't run into any Akuma, but they would've wandered a good deal longer if Miranda hadn't caught sight of her usual Hy-Vee. From there on it was smooth sailing. She very much wanted to collapse on the sofa as soon as she walked through the door, but her stomach was growling, so she made a beeline for the cupboard instead. She selected a can of ravioli and dug out the can opener. Allen's foggy image watched her from the metal.

"Miranda, are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'll be fine," she said absently. "It's just… you don't think that Akuma was going to murder everyone there, do you?"

"No. Level Twos can control their bloodlust to a certain degree, and that one was looking for something. It won't go out of its way to kill people. Akuma are always most efficient when they kill one by one, and keep under the radar. That's what this one will do. Er… this is rather disconcerting…." he mumbled, eyeing the rotating wheel as it cut through the can, right in front of his face.

Miranda set aside the can opener, pried the lid up with a fork, and scooped the ravioli into a bowl. She set that in the microwave, and stood back to watch as the machine hummed. Allen sounded confident in what he'd said, so it sounded like no one but the little boy had died. A little boy, of all things! Her eyes stung, and she rubbed at them furiously. For all she knew, he hadn't died at all. Yes, he was probably safe at home right now, even if her gut was telling her otherwise. He was safe.

With a _ding_, the microwave shut off. She grabbed a plate, set the bowl on top of that (it was hot, and she had no wish to be burned), then retrieved a spoon and sat on the couch. She didn't usually make a habit of eating in front of the TV, but now she had a guest of sorts, and it would be rude to ignore him while she ate. Besides, he almost always stood or sat in the same position as her, so this gave him a decent seat as well. Sure enough, he appeared to be sitting on the reflection-couch, though he looked a bit more like he was resting on something slanted. Odd, but his entire existence was odd, so she ignored it.

"So what now? Our lead is gone," she said mournfully.

"I think we should still look into Wenham Elementary. The skateboarder said something was happening there," said Allen.

"What? But what about the Akuma?" said Miranda.

"It'll be affected by the Innocence too, so it'll go back to where it was this morning," said Allen. He hopped to his feet and dusted off the seat of his pants (Miranda was a bit offended- her couch was not that dirty), then said, "In the meantime, I'm going to ask Master about this. He's had a lot more experience with Akuma, he might give me some pointers if I grovel." He grumbled about that. Miranda remembered him saying something about being an apprentice before, but apparently he wasn't too fond of his mentor….

"You're leaving?" she said, brow furrowing.

"Just long enough to talk to Master… and get some food. Food will be good. But don't worry, I'll be back," said Allen, flashing a smile.

"All right, then," said Miranda, giving a weak smile of her own. "Good luck."

"Thanks! I may need it…" Allen mumbled. He waved, then walked out the side of the TV screen.

When he was gone, Miranda looked down at the ravioli. The house suddenly seemed so quiet, despite the soft noises from the clock. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, she flipped on the TV. That cheesy romance movie came on, sans rain scene. She let the noise from that fill the room as she ate, then set the dishes on the coffee table and stretched out to watch. She didn't notice her eyelids were drooping, and by the time the clock chimed eleven, she was asleep.

* * *

Cold and hot and pain but not, and acrid smell and floral and was he walking over needles or pillows? Lavi didn't know, and with the whole jumbled senses, his brain was seriously hurting. He wasn't sure how long it lasted, but his sight came swirling back, colors exploding as his body was released from whatever he'd been stuck in. He staggered forward to keep his balance and looked up… in time to see a car speeding toward him.

With a cry of surprise he scrambled away to the curb, just narrowly avoiding a collision. He looked back to yell at the driver, but there was no car in sight.

"The hell?" he said, straightening up.

Nothing was there. Daisya and Jean had vanished, as had the golden retriever in front of the gray house, and the wheelbarrow in front of the green one. It looked just as empty as it had been inside the bubble, only inside the bubble, everything looked normal. There were some birds on the other side of the street, the tree branches swayed lightly with the wind, and there were a few cars driving along Gray Street.

"This isn't good, is it?" Lavi muttered. But all the same he began walking toward Wenham Elementary.

It really did look normal. Like there was no bubble. No panic, just people going about their daily business. Though the school looked awfully dark for a Tuesday. He pondered this as a blue van sped past. Weird, that looked a lot like the one that nearly ran over him just now. Huh.

He pulled out his phone again and frowned at the black screen. That was strange, he'd had full batteries just a minute ago. He opened it and pressed a few buttons, but no luck. It was dead. He shoved it in his pocket and kept walking.

He actually managed to catch a taxi a few blocks down, and asked the driver to take him to Rose Cross campus. The guy needed directions, and Lavi told him amidst a flood of questions. "So, how's today been? Yesterday?" "Lot of business?" "Anything big happen while I was gone?" "Didn't notice anything strange?" The driver was a rather surly man to begin with, and wasn't at all fond of the questioning. He replied curtly, with as few words as he could manage. That kinda pissed Lavi off, but there was nothing he could do about that. He didn't learn much except the fact that no one noticed anything weird, and there had been some sort of concert planned for this evening in a park nearby. He was dropped off near the science building, and paid the driver as little as he could get away with. The man glowered at him before driving away. Lavi saluted as he left, a big grin on his face, before turning back toward campus.

He made his way over to the tallest building (the Winters dorm) and scanned his ID card to open the door. He would've gone immediately to the elevators, but there was a clacking sound to the left that drew his attention.

Johnny Gill was sitting cross-legged in a chair drawn up to a table. He was a nerdy guy, kinda short, though he was a junior. His curly brown hair was tied back in a frizzy ponytail, and a pair of thick glasses sat high up on his nose, pushed still higher as he nervously surveyed the chessboard before him. Sitting in the opposite chair, back ramrod straight, was Howard Link. Link was a senior with dark blond hair nearly as long as Kanda's, tied back in a braid. His narrow eyes were seriously red, his eyebrows… _distinctive_, and there were two large moles in the middle of his forehead, in plain view due to the parting of his bangs (these had earned him the name 'Mr. Double Mole,' among others. Lavi denied any involvement in their invention).

So Johnny had finally managed to corner him- he'd made a habit of seeking out chess players to challenge between classes, and while it was said that Pimpleface (Link) was really good at it, the guy had been surprisingly elusive. Lavi drifted over to them with a grin.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Link glanced up at him, while Johnny actually turned to face him, sporting a toothy smile of his own.

"Oh, Lavi! We're just playing a game," he said, gesturing at the chessboard. "I heard Link was good, but he's kicking my butt here! It's brutal!" Regardless, he laughed. Link's eyes narrowed further, and his mouth quirked in disgust.

"It wouldn't be 'brutal' if you'd stop doing the same thing over and over," he said, in an acerbic tone.

"Huh?" said Johnny, confused.

"Look. You tried the same thing with your bishop and queen in the other game," said Link, pointing to the pieces and motioning to emphasize the point. "Moving four spaces right to take the rook. Then the queen comes in through here to take my knight. And then this with the pawn…."

Johnny leaned over the board, adjusting his glasses with a frown. "No, I arranged it like this…."

"That was last game. I meant before. You're using the same strategies."

"But… but we're only on our second game!" said Johnny.

"No, we've done this before," Link said stubbornly. "And you're being unoriginal."

"What, did we play in high school or something? I'd remember playing you here at Rose Cross," said Johnny.

"No, it was here," said Link, scowling. "This room, this table, these pieces, these… clothes?" He was looking down at himself, looking perplexed and annoyed by his crisp dress shirt. Johnny looked completely lost.

"What, are you sure you didn't come to spy on Johnny's strategies in his other games? That afraid of losing, Mr. Double Mole?" said Lavi. Link gave him a venomous look.

"I have better things to do with my time," he said sharply. Lavi just laughed at him.

"Anyway. I wanted to ask if either of you guys had noticed anything weird."

"Well," said Johnny, moving his queen a few spaces, "I think Kanda crashed in your room last night."

"Kanda?" said Lavi, surprised.

"Yeah. I saw him in the elevator earlier. He looked angrier than usual, and he was wearing your clothes."

"Hang on, what?"

"Yeah, I know!" said Johnny, not seeming to care that Link had captured his last knight. "I couldn't believe it either. Dunno where he went, though…."

"Huh…."

"I figured you knew about it," he said, shrugging.

"No, I didn't. Tiedoll's been freaking out over wherever he is, though," said Lavi.

"Tiedoll?"

"His dad."

"Aha…."

With an especially loud clack, Link used a rook to take Johnny's queen. This obviously wasn't what Johnny had planned, because he hunched lower, frowning and fiddling with his glasses again. Yep. Link had him backed into a corner.

"Hey Johnny, could I borrow your phone for a second? Mine doesn't work and I want to call Kanda, let him know about Tiedoll," said Lavi.

"Oh, sure," said Johnny, eyes still glued to the board. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, holding it out. Lavi picked it up. Immediately, a painful shock went up his arm. It felt like the phone had decided to send all of its charge through his fingers. The device gave an angry crackle, Lavi yelped, and he dropped it. It hit the ground with a dark screen, and Lavi cradled his arm.

"Whoa! Are you okay?" said Johnny.

"Your phone is an assassin, man. An _assassin_," Lavi hissed.

"It's never done that before," Johnny mumbled, and he hesitated before picking it up gingerly. "Huh, it's dead. I charged it yesterday, too…."

"I don't suppose I could borrow yours, then?" Lavi grumbled, glancing over at Link.

"After that?" the senior scoffed.

"Yeah, I didn't think so…. Johnny, do you know if Kanda crashed in my room before last night?"

"You'd know that. You were here yesterday morning," said Johnny.

"I was?" said Lavi, bewildered.

"Yeah. Last night you went to the airport. Did your flight get cancelled?"

"Johnny, I went to the airport on Friday."

"Yeah. It's Saturday," said Johnny. He glanced between the two of them. "You're both acting kinda strange today. Is something wrong?" Link was back to glaring at himself, and Lavi shook his head.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure," he said quietly. "Tell you what, I'm going to my room to take a nap. If Kanda comes back like I think he will, tell him I need to talk to him, yeah?"

"Sure thing," said Johnny. Link just grunted.

"Checkmate."

* * *

Kanda was going through Lavi's wardrobe again. Despite the fact that the three-days-used clothing smelled good as new, he wasn't fond of wearing the same thing so often. Which left him to find something in these drawers, which led him to the conclusion that Lavi had way too many pairs of tight pants. He found some jeans that didn't cut off his circulation, a pale greenish shirt, and was tying his hair back when his phone rang.

The hair tie fell, forgotten, as he stared at the phone. He checked his watch. 8:30 Saturday morning. He couldn't remember ever getting a call at 8:30 in the morning, even before this mess. On the third ring he dove for it. He held it up to his ear, only catching a glimpse of the caller ID: STUPID RABBIT. He answered it and nearly dropped the damn thing when it decided to screech. He snatched it back up, startled and angry, and bellowed, "Stupid rabbit! Why the hell are you calling?"

If this was a prank he was going to kill someone.

"-an-av-Wha-go-n?"

In between waves of static, he could hear Lavi's voice. It sounded serious and a little freaked out. He couldn't recall hearing it like that before. But then something clicked in his brain. Lavi was outside. He probably had no idea what was going on, and Tiedoll had picked him up. Knowing the old man, he'd gushed about it and… crap.

"Rabbit, don't come in here!" he said quickly. "It's like the city is rewinding. Stay away!"

"I-an-der-st-n-u-!"

And Kanda yelled louder, "I said don't come in here! It's rewinding, don't come!" The static rolled, and the call stopped abruptly. Kanda stared at the phone for a moment. Had Lavi hung up? No, he wouldn't. It had something to do with the rewinding, he was sure of it. He tried to call Lavi again, but all he got was the same recording.

"We're sorry, the number you've called is unavailable…."

Damn it. Lavi had a record of being a troublemaker and way too curious for his own good. He was probably going to try to enter Mater.

Kanda leapt up, grabbed a random jacket out of the closet, and hurried out the door. Johnny Gill tried to greet him in the elevator, but Kanda gave him a glower that shut him up quickly. He sprinted to his car and drove off, intent on finding Lavi Bookman. Figuring Gray Street was the most likely entry point, he directed the car toward Wenham Elementary. There weren't a lot of people in the way, so he got there fairly quickly. He parked in the Wenham parking lot and sat there, watching the intersection, but after a while he told himself he was late. The stupid rabbit had crossed the wall before he'd gotten there. If he could get through the wall in the first place.

There was a blond kid approaching the playground. Kanda focused all attention on him and got out of the car. The kid froze up as he approached, and Kanda realized he looked vaguely familiar. One of the neighborhood kids?

"Hey," he said when he was within earshot. "I'm looking for somebody. Tall, really red hair, eyepatch, looks like an idiot. Seen him?"

"N-no, sorry," said the kid, looking nervous. Kanda hissed in irritation, and the kid winced.

"Ran off, did he? Wonderful," he grumbled. This only seemed to make the kid's fear worse, so he searched for something to say to calm him down. "Uh… Don't do drugs and crap." They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, then Kanda spun on his heel and stormed back to the car, feeling like an idiot himself.

That was one location down. Maybe Lavi was going to one of his usual haunts. So today he drove all over town, searching out places Lavi was likely to be. Bookstores, malls, restaurants, second hand stores, Hobby Lobby, museums… he decided Mater was too big for its own good.

11:50 PM found him back at Rose Cross. His patience couldn't handle another museum, so he was heading back to 'home base.' He came across Howard Link on his way across the green.

"What are you doing out this late, Two-Spot?" he grunted.

Link threw him a disapproving look. "I'm going back to my dorm, not that it's any of your business. What are _you_ doing here? You tend to be gone by four."

"None of your business," Kanda sneered.

"Of course," said Link, rolling his eyes. "Just go to bed already. I don't want to have to come to class tomorrow to find you sleeping through it again."

Kanda scowled darkly and stalked the rest of the way to the dorm. It had been _one_ time, he had an excuse, but no one was letting him live it down. Damnable Two-Spot. He scanned his ID and yanked the door open, but one step inside, and another thought occurred to him. Following the logic of the rewinding city, today was Saturday and thus, tomorrow was Sunday. There were no classes on Sunday. Why did Link think he'd be in a class?

"Oh, Kanda!" He looked up. Johnny Gill was waving at him from a table in the lobby. He seemed to be picking up a chess set. "Lavi's back already! He said he wanted to talk to you!"

Lavi?

"Is he in his room?"

"Yeah. Said he needed a nap or something. Is everything okay? He seemed kinda out of it…."

Kanda ignored him, choosing instead to jab at the elevator button. He kept pushing it, swearing under his breath as it took an eternity to come down from the second floor. When the doors opened, he darted inside and pushed the button for fifth floor. He checked his watch as the doors closed. 11:59 and counting. He grit his teeth and watched as the seconds passed.

45…46…47…

The elevator was moving.

55…59…

As they passed the fourth floor, the clock hit midnight. The elevator shuddered, and the lights flickered. Kanda's strength left him, and his knees buckled. He tried to grab the rail to stop his fall, but he still hit the floor heavily.

"Oh for the love of god," he ground out, as his vision got darker.

* * *

I haven't played chess in years, so forgive me for messing up that game... Anyway, yeah, I'm trying to make the chapters correspond to the day now.


	4. Making a Gambit

"Sachiko! What are you doing?"

"Shut up, Kawamura!"

In the shadow of a whitewashed building, two women squabbled over a cardboard box. The girl with long brown hair and a pink kimono threw herself over the box, clutching tight to it as the other tried to yank it out of her grip.

"Hands off, it's mine!"

"Oh no you don't! I saw you bringing that out of Master Cross' study!" Kawamura hissed, some of her black hair slipping out of its bun. "We're not supposed to be there in the first place, but filching an entire box of stuff?"

"It's not filching, it's borrowing!" Sachiko retorted.

"Oh, that's a load of Akuma scrap and you know it!"

"I have Bak's permission!" Sachiko squeaked.

"Your nose is growing, Pinocchio. What the hell is…."

A soft sound caught their attention, and they froze immediately. Straining their ears, they could hear footfalls. The pair shrank closer to the wall, watching the end of the alleyway. Out on the cobblestone street, a tall, armored red figure lurched by, tangled gray hair swishing with the movement. A level three Akuma out on patrol. They were silent until the creature was gone. Sachiko sighed in relief. Kawamura snatched the box from her lax grip and whipped it open, fending off the other's panicked hands. She gave the contents an incredulous look.

"Golems!" she whispered. "Why do you have all of these golems? And communicators!" she said, picking up a large, dangly gold earring. "Forget Bak's permission, he hasn't let _anyone_ use these yet! They're not even properly tested!"

"I need them!" said Sachiko.

"So many?"

"Yes! Allen's missing in the limbo and nobody can get into that area! Bak's golems are made specially to work between worlds, maybe we can contact him through them!"

"When Master Cross hears…."

"When Master Cross hears that the only apprentice who could keep up with his debts is gone for good, what do you think he'll do?" Sachiko snapped. Kawamura grimaced. "Exactly."

"But so many…."

"It's a big area that's been cut off. The more golems there are, the more ground they can cover in a short time."

Kawamura dug through the golems, her face pinched in concentration. Lifting a black sphere out of the way, her eyes widened and she gave Sachiko a look of outrage.

"You stole Atuuda! I can't believe you stole Atuuda of all things!"

"Oh come on, Zhu isn't using him," Sachiko grumbled.

"_Atuuda_!"

"Allen, Kawamura. Allen."

"Oh my god." She buried her head in her hands, then clasped them together as if in prayer as she glared at her companion. "When Cross sees they're gone, I will have no part in this. Because he will notice sooner or later, and it will be _bloody_."

"Everything will be back to normal by then. He only goes in his office what, once every month?" Sachiko said confidently.

Kawamura made a strangled noise.

"Oh just shut up and help me," Sachiko grumbled. She hefted the box up into her arms and peeked around the corner. "Now where's the limbo door…?"

"Ahead one street and two blocks to the left," Kawamura said tiredly. Sachiko gave her a big smile.

"I'll make an accomplice of you yet! Onward!"

They sneaked through the rows of white buildings, slipping quietly under arches and bridges, and past windows. The shadows cast them in a blue hue. The doors they went by looked very much the same, but there were subtle differences: different knobs, slight change in color, a scratch here or there…. They stopped in front of a tall set of mahogany colored doors with gold handles, flanked on either side by a large pot of flowers in full bloom. The leaves were almost neon in the white city. Sachiko knelt down and rummaged in the box.

"Help me turn them on and put the earrings on, then we'll send them through," she said, and Kawamura reluctantly complied. As each golem was flipped on, its lens lit up as blue as the sky above, and the mechanical pieces inside began to whir as wings unfurled. They fluttered up around the women's heads as they kept working.

"I think that's the last of them," Kawamura said, fixing one more earring onto the golem she held.

"Right. Okay, all of you!" said Sachiko, and all the golems focused on her. "I want you to go through that door, and one of you has to get a communicator to Allen Walker. When that's done, form a network around Timcanpy and locate the Innocence. Assist Allen Walker and whatever other accommodators are in there. And stay low!"

The golems whirred in response. Sachiko pulled one of the doors open a bit, revealing an expanse of dark blue, dotted by pale ruins and tiny flakes of swirling snow: the limbo. The golems flitted one by one through the gap. Once the last was gone, she closed it.

"Come on, let's get out of here before someone sees us," said Kawamura, glancing around the deserted street.

"Right," said Sachiko, picking up the box.

They hurried away, and neither noticed the large purple butterfly fluttering by the flowerpots.

* * *

Miranda dreamed of Allen this time.

She stood in a field of wheat, the grass so tall it passed her waist. The sky was dark, lit by stars, and before her, further along a path of bent grass, stood Allen. He had his back turned, and was wearing a worn brown coat, but with that white hair it couldn't be anyone else. She called out to him, but could only hear the distant echo of her voice. He heard it, though. He turned to look over his shoulder, and Miranda saw that he was wearing a mask. It was white, with black for the eyes, and red makeup around those eyes and lips, which formed an abnormally large smile.

The mask was unnerving, and despite its smile, it made her feel terribly, terribly sad.

* * *

Miranda rose up from bed, feeling very groggy. She shut off the alarm and just sat there for a while, brain taking a while to remember how to function. She'd almost fallen back asleep in that position when some portion of her mind mentioned that she was supposed to be doing something. She opened her eyes to squint around the room. Bedroom. Bed. Purple pajamas. She wasn't on the couch. She was supposed to be waiting for Allen to come back. Allen!

She was awake immediately. She swung her legs out of bed and was about to stand up, when-

"Good morning."

-she screamed and lost her balance, crashing to the floor. Allen winced in the mirror.

"Oh, geez…. Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine," Miranda muttered, getting to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I just thought I should say something before you started changing or something," said Allen, a faint red tinge to his face.

"I'm glad you did, actually," said Miranda. She paused, and her eyes widened. "Wait, does this mean you remember?" she gasped.

"Yep. New theory: this Innocence has limited impact on those in contact with any piece of Innocence."

"What does that mean?"

"Since I'm an accommodator, my Innocence repels some of the effects," said Allen. His smile faltered at the look on her face. "Uh… Miranda?"

"You're an accommodator?" she breathed.

"Yes. The cross in my hand… perhaps my whole arm… is made of Innocence," said Allen.

"Ah…" said Miranda. "Then it doesn't affect you at all?"

"I can remember everything, but I can't get out of this space in limbo. And I passed out sometime around midnight and found myself at the edge this morning, so I'm being 'rewound' too," said Allen.

"Oh dear… and I suppose you weren't able to talk with your master either."

"Yes and no…" said Allen. Something flickered near his head. Miranda was sure there was movement, but she couldn't see anything. "I couldn't get through, but Timcanpy came to see me. Timcanpy is Master Cross' golem."

"Oh, the cell phone thing?" said Miranda, interested.

The movement came again and Allen's head jerked to the side. "Er… Tim's a he…."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Miranda muttered, confused now. A male phone?

"Anyway, he had a message. It turns out a large group of Akuma is moving in on Mater, and since I can't find them in limbo, they must be in your world by now."

"But how can that be?" said Miranda.

"It seems there's a broker who pulled them through. Normally nothing can get into your world, but if someone on your side creates a contract, they can pull their contract partner through. A broker is someone on your side who made a deal with the Millennium Earl, a ruler in my world. They were very common in the late 1800s- there was an actual war on your side back than, and brokers pulled in reinforcements. There hasn't been a use for them since, then, but now it looks like they're making a comeback," said Allen. "There's been no news of war, though. Just a large gathering of Akuma. That means we're probably looking for an accommodator. A powerful one, too, with the levels being sent out."

"Is that good or bad?" said Miranda.

"Probably good, since an accommodator can stop the effect of their Innocence, and they can destroy the Akuma," said Allen. "And they probably won't have any problem with me pulling them back into limbo. But we need to hurry."

Miranda was all for stopping the craziness as soon as possible, but the 'hurry' still threw her off. "Why? If the accommodator can destroy Akuma…."

"With every minute that goes by, more Akuma could be coming through. If we don't get the accommodator and Innocence out of here, they'll just keep coming. They've already started killing…."

"They what?" Miranda gasped.

"I scouted around while you were asleep, and I saw the signs. Five people were killed by an Akuma's blood bullets. They didn't come back when the town was reset."

"That…but…that's horrible!"

"Yeah, exactly why we need to hurry."

"Right. Just let me get dressed, and we can go," said Miranda. Allen nodded and walked out of the mirror. Miranda pulled open her dresser and threw on the first set of clothes she touched. She pulled on socks and slipped on her shoes, not bothering with her hair as she hurried into the living room. Allen waved from the toaster as she moved toward the front door.

"Miranda, breakfast!"

"But we're hurrying!" said Miranda, baffled. Allen looked horrified.

"And miss a meal? For shame!"

"I thought we had to go as soon as possible," Miranda mumbled as she drifted over.

"You have to eat to keep up your strength, though!" Allen insisted. He looked oddly flustered.

"Um… Allen, why…?"

A loud rumble reached her ears. He grimaced. "I-I'm sorry. There isn't any food in the limbo and I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday…" he mumbled.

"O-oh! But how were you expecting to last thirty days without food?" she squawked.

"Alma and Sachiko were going to try to push food through, but they only did it that one time. I don't know why they stopped, but it leaves me here, stranded, no food. Don't be like me, Miranda."

"Is it possible for me to send food through?" said Miranda.

"It would take an enormous amount of energy, and I'd pass out. Pulling things to and from worlds is difficult. Best not to push it right now," said Allen.

"But…."

"Believe me, Miranda, I would _love_ to eat right now. But we need to conserve energy in case you need to pull me through."

"Eh? I can pull you through?" Miranda muttered. The thought hadn't actually occurred to her. "But if I can, why haven't you asked me to bring you here yet?"

"Because if I'm in your world, there's no one to pull the Innocence into limbo," said Allen. "If I go into your world, we'll be stuck here until everything's resolved. There's no way to lure the danger back to my world."

"Ah… that makes sense…."

"Right. Now, you understand the moral of this story?" said Allen.

"Um…"

"Eat your breakfast."

After a bit more wheedling, he convinced her into eating some toast before rushing out the door. She was gone before the children even ventured out of their houses, and about forty minutes later by bus, she was standing by the fence of Wenham Elementary School.

The windows were dark as they should be on a Saturday morning, and the playground was untouched. If she hadn't seen it yesterday, she never would've believed there had been a monster here. Feeling a bit foolish, she held up a blue handheld mirror, reflective side facing the school grounds. She'd decided this was the best method when one had a mirror companion. Hopefully it would give him a better viewpoint too.

"Well?" she questioned.

"I'm not detecting any Akuma right now…" said Allen, looking up from the mirror. "But that doesn't mean the Innocence isn't here. My eye can only detect Akuma, I'm afraid my Innocence tracker is a bit unrefined."

Well that did a lot of good.

"I suppose we should look inside the building, then?" said Miranda.

"Yeah, that's probably best. Are they open on Saturdays?"

"We'll see…."

She walked up to the main doors and tried to pull them open. The first door rattled in its frame, but refused to open. She tried the other just in case, but it stayed firmly shut as well.

"Locked," she groaned.

"Here, just a minute," said Allen.

"Do you have a plan or something?" said Miranda.

"Yeah. Golems can push themselves through to the next world. If I can convince him to… Aha!" Beyond the glass doors, there was a flash of gold. That speck of color weaved closer to the doors and up, out of sight.

_ABATA…URA…MASARAKATO…!_

A shiver ran down her spine as gold light danced in the crack around the door. The door let out a low whine, then fell forward. Miranda stared, first at the door, then up at the 'golem.' It was large and round, the size of a softball, a gold thing with a darker, thick stylized cross on the front. It had four stubby little legs, a pair of long, thin feathered wings, two little horns, and a long skinny tail topped with a big round swirl. Its wings flapped languidly as it moved down to inspect her mirror. Allen waved at it.

"Hello! Miranda, this is Timcanpy. Timcanpy, Miranda."

The golem turned upward, and Miranda imagined there were eyes on the cross. "Um, hello," she said weakly. She squeaked as the middle of that cross split open, revealing a set of pointed teeth bared in a grin.

"Aw, he likes you!" Allen cooed.

"Lovely," said Miranda, stepping around it and into the school. Timcanpy flapped after her as she walked past the dark office. The hall was very dim, and the contorted first grade crafts looked monsterous on the walls. Miranda's footsteps echoed loudly, and she fought down paranoia as she ventured on. She tried the doors on a few classrooms, but they were locked. Timcanpy would flutter up and bear its teeth, echoing the odd words before the doors fell off their hinges. Nothing was in the classrooms. As Miranda began up the stairs to the older grades, she heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Miranda, there are Akuma here! I'll try to destroy them, but I think the broker's here! Stop him!" said Allen.

"Wait!" Miranda cried, fumbling with the mirror. "How am I supposed to stop a broker?" But Allen was already gone.

Miranda fidgeted until Timcanpy bumped into her shoulder, prompting a shriek as she bolted up the stairs. She heard a distant cry of "Innocence, activate!" as she ran, glancing through the little windows in the doors. Empty, empty, empty…. There was a crash up ahead, and she redirected her path. Belatedly, she realized she was heading for the bathroom. The boy's room, specifically. She slowed to a stop in front of the door, but Timcanpy was still going fast. The golem smacked into her back, with enough force to send her toppling into the door. It swung open easily under her weight, and she hit the tile floor.

The bathroom was fairly small. There were two blue stalls, two urinals, and a row of four sinks on the opposite wall with matching mirrors. Those mirrors weren't reflecting the room, though- it was like they were windows to another place. That 'other place' was pale blue land under a deep, royal blue sky, with snowflakes falling slowly amidst bare, twisted trees. Allen was there, as were two others. Allen's left eye had gone red again, and something had happened to his arm. His left shoulder was engulfed in green flame, the arm becoming a steely, plated, thick limb longer than he was tall, tipped with five curved, wickedly sharp digits. He was leaping around and swinging this arm at the other two, who cackled and dodged every swipe.

Back in the room, Miranda noticed a man. He was rather portly, dressed like a doctor, balding, but with a curly handlebar mustache. His skin was covered in black stars, to the point where their darkness was nearly eclipsing his own pallid coloring. He leaned against the wall, as if he'd stumbled there in surprise. But as Allen gave a roar and finally rent one of his foes in half, the man came to his senses. Miranda jumped at the explosion from the mirror (good lord the room actually rattled), but he strode forward to the glass and called, "Akuma! This way!"

Miranda gasped and scrambled to her feet. That man was the broker! He was trying to pull that Akuma through to kill more people like that little boy! Without another thought, she let out a screech and lunged. The man didn't even have time to look up before she'd tackled him to the ground. Unfortunately she was only a skinny young lady. The broker had a lot more muscle to him, and wrestled her off. She tried to trip him as he made to stand, but he caught a sink on the way down.

"Akuma!" he called again, reaching up to the glass. His fingers met the surface and seemed to sink into it. With a pop like a released suction cup, the Akuma slid out, into the bathroom. This one looked like a giant ugly baby doll, and it had a ghastly smile. "Aha! Some 'Angels' you are!" the broker laughed. "Now, Akuma! Get rid of them!"

"Miranda!" Allen cried, running up to the mirror.

Miranda scuttled back. Timcanpy darted up at the Akuma's face as she scrambled up. She reached out. The mirror was bitingly cold. It was like she'd stuck her bare hand into a snowbank. Ripples spread out where her fingers dug in, and something warm curled around them. She tightened her grip, braced herself against the sink, and pulled back with all her might. First a hand, then an arm, then a shoulder and a head, followed by the rest of the body, Allen slipped smoothly out of the mirror.

Miranda's knees buckled. Allen caught her before she could knock her head against the sink. Her head was hurting, and she felt horribly tired. Much too tired… She fought to keep her eyes open.

"W-what's…happ…ng…?"

"It's okay, Miranda, it'll be fine. I'll take care of the Akuma."

Huh. Akuma. That thing could kill her. But Miranda couldn't bring herself to care. She passed out.

* * *

It was Saturday again. Kanda didn't need to check his watch to know. It was obvious enough with that blackout in the elevator. So he was probably in Lavi's room again. Annoyed, he cracked his eyes open and got a view of something red. Confused now, he pulled his head back to inspect it better. It was hair. Red hair. Red hair growing out of the scalp of a certain idiot with an eyepatch, who was currently curled up next to him.

Oh hell no.

Kanda roared and shoved Lavi out of the bed. Lavi woke up as he began to fall and thrashed, pulling the blankets with him to land in a heap on the floor. He spluttered, sitting up and looking wildly around the room before zooming in on Kanda.

"Y-Yu!" he cried.

"Don't call me that!" Kanda snarled. Lavi paid that no attention.

"What are you doing here? Why are you in my bed?"

"I'm here because I can't leave. And I'm in this bed because I wasn't about to look for bedding for the other one."

Lavi looked very bemused. "Can't leave?"

"The stupid wall keeps spitting me back out," Kanda grumbled, and understanding dawned on Lavi's face.

"Oh, the bubble! Yeah, that thing's a dome, not a wall," he said, shrugging off the blanket.

"Say what?"

"Mater's got a dome around it keeping things from getting in or out. And depending which side you're on, the other looks completely empty. I hope you know your family's been worried sick. Tiedoll especially…."

"Shut up, he's not my dad," Kanda hissed.

"Yeah yeah, I get it," said Lavi, waving him off. "But it spits you out? You don't just run into it?"

"No. It spits everything back out, rocks, cars, people…" Kanda growled and heaved himself out of the bed. He stepped around Lavi and opened a drawer.

"Weird," said Lavi, stroking a nonexistent beard. "On the other side it's just a hard surface. You're sure it spits _everything_ out?"

"I'd show you the dent in my car, but the city rewound so it's gone," Kanda sneered. "You hear that? It freaking rewound. It's still Saturday. Been Saturday for five days!" He paused and eyed Lavi suspiciously. "…You aren't surprised."

"Nope. Ran into Johnny and Link yesterday and figured it out from there," Lavi said with a shrug.

"Bastard."

"Language, Yu."

Kanda threw a shirt at him. It smacked him in the face, and he peeled it off to inspect it. "Good choice, Yu. Now toss me some pants and we'll be good to go." Kanda was very tempted to chuck the alarm clock at him instead, but he forced his attention back to the clothes.

"How did you get in here if the wall's a solid surface, anyway?" he grumbled, unable to stem his curiosity.

"Don't know!" Lavi sighed brightly. "Just tried to walk in, crazy vertigo moment, and then I almost got mowed down by a car. No clue how it worked."

"Damn it…"

"So what now?" said Lavi. Kanda scowled and tossed some pants at him.

"Get dressed."

"Right."

Ten minutes later they were in the bathroom. Lavi was brushing his teeth, and Kanda leaned against the wall to watch, for lack of anything better to do.

"Okay, so give me the lowdown. All the info you know about the rewinding," Lavi mumbled around his toothbrush.

"It started sometime around four on the original 24th. That's when I first noticed the wall."

"Dome."

"Shut up. When I drove across the intersection by Wenham, there was a popping noise and I found myself a block away from the lights again."

"Really? Weird…."

"Shut up. I came back here and crashed in your room…."

"Nice of you to invite yourself."

"Shut up. I stayed here and the next morning, things changed. I didn't have your key, my homework miraculously undid itself, the pizza was gone… and every night it happened. Key gone. Homework gone. Pizza gone. If I stayed up until midnight, I blacked out and found myself in your room when I woke up. That's what happened last night. And it's not just Gray Street with the freaking loop, it happens everywhere along the city border. There's no escape," said Kanda. This was greeted with silence, so he looked over at Lavi. The other had turned to face him, mouth lack and visible eye wide. He looked horrified."What?" Kanda snapped.

Lavi spat out some toothpaste before saying, "Oh my god. Oh my god, your _homework_ is gone? Please tell me you didn't have an essay. Dear god, tell me it didn't erase an essay."

"It didn't," said Kanda. Now that he thought of it, having to rewrite a ten page paper every day would be torture. It was a good thing he didn't have any of those right now. Lavi gave a sigh of relief.

"Okay, good. So we have the dilemma of the rewinding town, which erases all progress of the day and prevents us from leaving. That's just great. Now, why does a town rewind?"

"It doesn't," Kanda grunted.

"You're in the middle of one, that logic is invalid. Better question, what's making it rewind?" said Lavi, shoving the toothbrush in his mouth again. Kanda puzzled for a while.

"A rewind button?" he guessed. Lavi snorted with laughter and Kanda kicked him in the shins. "I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas!"

"Relax man, I… Holy crap!" Lavi stumbled backward. Kanda tensed up, looking around for trouble, but nothing was wrong.

"What's the big idea?" he growled.

"Look at the mirror!" said Lavi. Kanda leaned over, and his eyes widened.

The _thing_ in the mirror was small and black. Its main body was a sphere, just larger than a ping-pong ball, with two small diamond-shaped antennae on top. It had two wings reminiscent of a bat's that flapped rapidly to keep it airborne. While it should've been a reflection, there was nothing to cast it in the room. Things were getting weirder.

"What the hell is that?" said Kanda.

"Why're you asking me?" Lavi said incredulously.

"Because I sure as hell haven't seen it before!" said Kanda. He watched the thing for a moment while it twitched, as if indecisive about which way to go. Finally, deciding he'd rather find out now instead of brood about it all day, he tapped the glass. The bat-thing flipped around, and Kanda realized they'd been looking at its back. On the front was a sapphire blue circle, with a darker slit down the middle like a pupil. An _eye_.

It observed them for a while, and they stood very still under its scrutiny. Then, it flew at them. It hit the glass, but it didn't bounce off- no, the glass stretched after it with the consistency of plastic wrap, tearing as its wings kept beating, and suddenly it was there in the room, plasticy glass tendrils retreating back to the mirror. Lavi yelped and fled, Kanda on his heels. The thing darted after them. They thundered down the hall and dodged into Lavi's room. Kanda whirled around and slammed the door shut. There was a _thunk_ on the other side, and a following thump near the floor.

"Did it fly into the door?" said Lavi. "Sounded like it…."

Kanda eased the door open a crack to peek out. That blue eye appeared right in front of his face. He jerked back on instinct, and the creature took the opportunity to swoop inside. Lavi swore loudly and took a swipe at it with his toothbrush. Kanda picked up the heaviest book within arm's reach and raised it above his head. Lavi wailed.

"Kanda, no! I only rented that one! Don't get bat guts all over it, I won't be able to return it!"

"Screw you and the damn book!" Kanda roared, bringing it down. The bat-thing dodged easily (it was a fast little bastard), leaving the book to hit the desk, causing the entire thing to shake. Kanda raised the book once more but instantly the thing was in his face again and forcing him back. Lavi grabbed at it, but this time it flew up to the ceiling and circled, its movements betraying its distress. It didn't seem used to being the prey.

"Okay, seriously, what the hell is that?" said Lavi, eye following it.

"A stupid bat-thing that will _die_," Kanda hissed. "Find Johnny and borrow his flyswatter."

"I don't think a flyswatter's gonna cut it…."

"Then find Tapp and borrow his _electric_ flyswatter."

The bat-thing nearly fell out of the air in alarm. Its eye flashed and suddenly, another person was there in the room. Lavi and Kanda backed up quickly, Kanda bumping into the wall and holding the book up in case it was needed as a weapon again. The person was a man- fairly short, with blond hair and slanted blue eyes, wearing a tasseled cap on his head and an official-looking white uniform. He also seemed to be slightly transparent. It made Kanda wonder if the book would do him any good.

"What you are looking at is the Golem's third generation, second update. Much more reliable in communications, much less likely to be destroyed in combat," he said, in the tone of a man who'd been working on something difficult and time consuming, to no positive results. "No, they cannot be bartered for drinks. Yes they can record things, but no they won't record porn. _Cross_." The man gave them a pointed look, and they glanced at each other in confusion. "These are meant for reconnaissance, communication, and assistance to Angels. Don't fool around with them. And for god's sake, Cross, stop giving them away. The individual parts are hard enough to get a hold of, and construction is time consuming. If this shipment doesn't see battle, I will know. And I will refuse any more assistance to you and your little gang. I mean it." He glared for emphasis. "Right. These golems are special in that not only do they move freely through worlds, they recognize a single owner, much like Timcanpy or Atuuda. They'll align themselves with an Innocence accommodator. They won't obey anyone else. Keep that in mind, because they can access our _entire system_. If one falls into the wrong hands, we'll be at the Noah's mercy. Got it? Good. Send me a confirmation when you receive this shipment."

The man flickered and vanished. The bat-thing (golem, if that little speech was in any way truthful) fluttered down to flap in front of Kanda's face. Slowly, he reached up a hand to poke at it. The metal confirmed that yes, this was definitely a machine. The golem's wings stopped beating, and it sat contentedly in his palm. Kanda frowned as he weighed it, calming down a little now that it wasn't dive-bombing them.

"Whoa. I think it likes you," said Lavi, a shaky grin making its way back onto his face. Kanda snorted.

"Why's it even here?' he said. That wiped the smile right off the redhead's face. Lavi tapped his temple with the toothbrush, not seeming to care that he was getting foam in his hair.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Okay. Well, this is way beyond the realm of normal. I have theories now, but honestly, I'd have laughed at them yesterday."

"Spill it. Not like it can get any worse than a rewinding town," said Kanda, curling his fingers over the golem.

"Inter-planetary gang war." At Kanda's disgusted look, Lavi hurried to explain. "No, really! The hologram guy said the golem thing was for a gang called Angels, whose leader is apparently named Cross. They're meant to be used in a fight. This thing's a tiny robot with enough sentience to recognize only one owner, and it moves through worlds. You can't deny that last one when it came out of the freaking mirror. Besides, hologram guy? Way beyond our technology, and definitely not your usual fashion choices!"

Fragmented information at best, but tying it all together, Lavi's guess made a little sense. Not that Kanda appreciated it at all.

"That's way too stupid to be real."

"Well I'll tell you what's worse. That golem is supposed to recognize someone with innocence as an owner. It likes you. Meaning it thinks you, Mr. bogeyman-of-the-neighborhood-children, are innocent. What is it comparing you to?"

It was very true that Kanda wouldn't call himself 'innocent.' He may not have been a chainsaw murderer or anything, but he was pretty rotten, even in his own opinion. Glancing down at the golem, he noticed it was making an odd purring noise. He uncurled his fingers, but it made no move to leave his hand. Well that was just peachy.

"Yeah, I think we're kinda screwed," Lavi muttered. Kanda ignored him, grabbing a random jacket out of the closet again (the same blue one with the zippers he'd grabbed yesterday) and stalking toward the door.

"The hell we are."

"Hey wait, where are you going?" said Lavi.

"To the source. Hey, golem," said Kanda, and the golem's wings snapped up in attention. "I'm your owner now, right?" It responded with a whir and slight tilt of its rounded body. "I want you to take us to the thing causing this."

With a single powerful flap of its wings, the golem left his hand and went out the door. Kanda followed it. He heard Lavi scramble to follow and lock the door. Once in the elevator, Lavi asked, "You sure this is a good idea?"

No, Kanda decided, it probably wasn't. Especially if one of the inter-planetary gangs were man-eating aliens. But he wasn't about to sit back and let it pass by; he needed control over the situation, however little it was.

* * *

Lavi had only been in Kanda's car once before, and his impression this time around was the same as it was then. Too clean. If it weren't for that little stain on the backseat (evidence of Daisya and the so called 'chocolate chips in summer debacle'), he'd think the thing was brand new. No personality or customization. None. Kanda needed a bumper sticker. Yeah, he'd get a bumper sticker and slap it on there today, then it would be gone by tomorrow and Kanda couldn't kill him for it! Brilliant!

"What are you laughing about?" Kanda grunted, eyes still on the road.

"Nothing," said Lavi, giving him his best smile. He could tell Kanda didn't believe him, though.

The car rounded a corner, and the golem straightened out. As they had decided to take the car, the golem had taken to just facing the direction they needed to go, leaving Kanda to navigate the streets. It was harder than they'd thought, though. Mostly due to the awful downtown traffic. They were currently stuck in a line near the Downtown Diner and Central Bank, and it didn't look like they'd be moving again anytime soon. Kanda grumbled darkly at the cars ahead, while Lavi searched the sidewalks. He'd been counting the pieces on the sculpture walk. Forty-three so far. Forty-four with that dragon sculpture right there. Forty-five with the eagle next to it. Forty-six with… hang on, that wasn't a sculpture, that was a sign.

Lavi shifted closer to Kanda, squinting at the other's window. There was a pretty Chinese girl standing outside the diner, her dark hair pulled back in two long pigtails. Normally the sight of her would've caught Lavi's attention; he'd note her good looks, plan on hitting on her if he ever got the chance, and move on. But she held his attention, not for her good looks, but for the cardboard sign she held above her head: WHAT DAY IS IT?

He rolled down his window and pulled his torso out, ignoring Kanda's demand to sit his ass back down.

"Hey!" he shouted, waving. The girl looked confused, but managed to spot him across two lanes of traffic. She waved the sign to show she heard. Lavi cupped a hand around his mouth and called, "It's Wednesday!"

The girl was stunned. But then a smile broke over her face, and she raced out into the street. She wove around the other cars and stopped next to Kanda's door, standing on the balls of her feet to get a better view of Lavi over the car roof.

"You know what's going on?" she said, and Lavi noted that she had a pretty voice too. "It's not Saturday?"

"It's apparently been Saturday for five days now. So you remember too?" said Lavi.

"Yes! Thank god, I thought I was going crazy!" said he girl, and it looked like she was about to cry for joy.

"Yeah! I guess there's a little group of us, huh?" said Lavi.

"Group?" said the girl, and she bent down a little to look at Kanda. Lavi heard the window roll down, and Kanda said, "Get in the car."

"Way to sound like a creep," Lavi laughed.

The girl glanced up at Lavi, and after only a little hesitation, she pulled open the door and sat in the backseat. Lavi slid back into the car and twisted around to look at her.

"So, I'm Lavi Bookman and my buddy here is Yu Kanda. You should probably call him Kanda." Kanda grunted. "We go to Rose Cross. You know that college?"

"Yeah, my brother and I help out there sometimes," she said. "My name's Lenalee Lee. I'm a senior at Black Order High." She held out a hand, and Lavi shook it firmly. She moved on to Kanda, and Lavi was mildly surprised when the guy actually shook her hand. The cars ahead moved, and Kanda's attention went back to the road. As the car finally began to roll forward, Lavi watched Lenalee through the rearview mirror. When she was paying sufficiently little attention, he did a little fist pump and muttered, "Strike!"

Kanda looked thoroughly disgusted with him.

"Golem."

Obediently, the golem swatted Lavi's head.

* * *

"Miranda? Miranda, are you all right? Miranda…." There was a voice, and someone was gently shaking her shoulders. "Miranda…." She opened her eyes.

There was a boy kneeling at her side. He had a pale, young face with gray eyes, and an oddly shaped, jagged scar topped with a pentagram over the left. Lank white hair fell about his face. He wore black, a high collared coat with a red ribbon peeking out at the neck, matching black pants, and black shoes with metal toes. The blackness made him look fit for a funeral, but he looked rather worse for wear. His face was smudged and dirty, plaster pieces and dust littered his hair and shoulders, and his coat was ripped badly, the shoulder seam on the right almost completely undone and showing off a white shirt beneath. He smiled.

"Ah, there we go. Are you feeling all right?" he asked, and Miranda recognized the voice. It was Allen, in the real world and no longer abstract or cartoony. No sketchy little lines.

Miranda looked down at herself and tried to focus on what she felt. Tired. Utterly exhausted, like that time she'd stupidly participated in a marathon. And a little groggy like she'd just woken up. There was dust and plaster sprinkled over her as well. She looked over Allen's shoulder to see the rest of the bathroom.

It was in shambles. The far stall was twisted horribly, crumpled and bent inwards as if it were nothing but tinfoil. Its neighbor had been pulled with it, so the blue metal stood lopsided, halfway torn up out of the ground. The surrounding tiles were cracked and broken. By the stalls, the tiles were blackened or missing, and there were long gouges in the walls. One of the sinks had been knocked clean off the wall, the one next to it lopsided and leaking. Two of the mirrors were shattered, the others covered in cracks. There was an odd gurgling noise from the ruined stall, presumably the toilet overflowing, for the floor was covered in water now. Nearby in the puddle was a heap of clothing. It looked like what the broker had been wearing, but the man was gone. What looked like dust was falling out the sleeves and collar.

"What happened?" she mumbled.

"I destroyed the Akuma, but I wasn't fast enough," he said, glancing at the clothes. "That's what happens when someone is hit with an Akuma blood bullet. Within a minute, the Akuma virus spreads throughout the victim's body - that's when black stars start appearing all over the skin - and then they crumble into poisonous dust. There's no cure once the Akuma virus takes hold of you."

"So that… that's the broker? He's dead?" said Miranda. Allen nodded.

"Yeah. Timcanpy's checking for anything else here."

"Oh… okay," said Miranda, closing her eyes and rubbing her head to make the ache go away. Allen gingerly straightened her to a sitting position and removed his hands slowly, as if expecting her to fall over without support. True, Miranda wavered, but she stayed up. There was a flapping sound from the door, and Allen's face grew puzzled. Timcanpy flew in to meet them, and Miranda squeaked when she realized there was a black wing hanging out of its mouth.

"Tim!" Allen said shrilly, grabbing the limp wing and tugging. "What did you do? Bad golem!"

Timcanpy bared its teeth and kept a tight grip on the wing, resulting in a very strange looking tug-of-war. Miranda watched, horrified and fascinated, until Timcanpy chomped right through the wing. It fluttered wildly to stay in place, but Allen had been leaning back and ended up sprawled in the water. He sat up and waved the wing angrily, several wires coming loose from inside as he did. Wires?

"What have I told you about eating other golems? And now of all times?" Timcanpy looked away snootily. "I don't care if it gave you sass! What if it was delivering something important? What if it was scouting for an Angel?"

Timcanpy chose to ignore him, 'cheeks' bulging as it chewed thoughtfully. Allen glared darkly. After a minute the golem turned and spat something in Allen's face, much to the young man's distress.

"Augh, Tim!"

Whatever the thing was, it landed on the floor with a small splash. Miranda carefully reached out and picked it up, praying it wasn't some sort of bat innards. It turned out to be an earring, a gold, trapezoid-shaped one dangling from a small matching hoop. Why did Timcanpy have that in his mouth?

"Um…" she muttered, catching Allen's attention. "What's this?"

"That's a communicator!" said Allen, eyes wide. "But those aren't finished yet, Bak is still working on them in my world."

"Is it important?" said Miranda.

"Yeah. These are supposed to connect to each other the way golems do. It's a tiny… what do you call them… walkie-talkie? It lets us talk long distance. But these can even make the jump between worlds! In theory, of course."

"So that could let you talk to your master?" said Miranda, some of the dizziness going away in her hope.

"If he has a communicator of his own on the same channel or frequency," said Allen.

"Try it!" said Miranda, holding it out. Allen took it from her fingers and held it up to his ear with one hand, the other fiddling with the trapezoid shape and presumably adjusting the controls. It came to life with a soft crackling noise, and settled into a barely audible hum, like an empty radio station.

"Hello? Hello? Bak? Master?" said Allen. There was no response, so he messed with it some more and tried again. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Nothing. He kept on changing the settings. On one of the channels there was a sound like beating wings, but no voice. After a while Allen gave up. "Seems like there are other communicators out there, but no one's on them. Typical," he said, glaring at the earring. Miranda let out a sigh, tiredness creeping back in. Timcanpy fluttered closer, and Allen glanced up at it. "Tim says there isn't anything else around here. Let's get you home."

"Home?" said Miranda. "But it's only…" she checked her watch, "10:45? That can't be right…."

"You were passed out for a while," said Allen.

"It's still early to go back, though. Shouldn't we be looking for Innocence?" said Miranda.

"You just pulled a person out of their world and into yours. That takes a lot of energy. You won't be up to much of anything today, it's best to rest for now."

Miranda wanted to argue, but she could feel how tired she was right now. She doubted she'd be able to stand on her own, let alone run all over looking for an invisible magic crystal. And Allen would likely stay with her in case of trouble, so he couldn't look either. She was dragging him down. How very useless she was. So very useless. She was pulled out of her self pity by a loud rumble. She looked up in surprise as Allen clapped his hands over his stomach, an embarrassed flush stealing across his face.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," he mumbled. That was right, Allen hadn't eaten in nearly twenty-four hours.

"We need to get you some food!" Miranda cried, grabbing his hands. He looked surprised for a moment, but his expression quickly morphed into happiness.

"Food?" he said hopefully.

"Yes! Come on!" Miranda tried to stand, but the dizziness sent her splashing to the floor again. With a faint laugh, Allen helped pull her to her feet. She leaned heavily on him. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm such a bother," she fretted.

"No, it's completely fine. I'd be more worried if you could stand," said Allen. He put the earring through his red ribbon, and once that was secure, he threw her arm around his shoulders and helped her slosh toward the door.

"We can get your ears pierced, too," said Miranda.

"Eh?"

"For that earring. It's a bit odd to wear it on a tie…."

"Ah, true enough."

He helped her out into the hallway, and they left little dark spots in their wake on the thin carpet. Timcanpy led them down the stairs and out the door. As they retreated along the sidewalk, Miranda glanced back and hoped the vandalism wasn't too bad. At the bus stop, Miranda used her bus pass and dug out some money for Allen's fare. They hobbled onto the vehicle and nearly fell when it started moving. The other passengers (few though there were) watched them as they sank into the first seats they could. Miranda neglected to inform Allen that these were handicapped seats. That would be too much of a bother to make him support her again, and she couldn't summon up the energy to say anything anyway. She had a hard enough time staying awake. Allen was looking around like this was his first time on a bus- It must've been a different experience to see through the windows. A twenty minute ride later, Miranda pulled the stop signal.

"Here?" said Allen, craning his head to see out the window.

"Here."

He helped her off the bus, and looked up at the three story mall before them. "Wow…"

"Do you have malls where you come from?" said Miranda, hoping she wouldn't have to explain every little detail.

"Yeah, but none so big. Dear god, this one's bigger than Headquarters…" said Allen. Miranda laughed.

"Well, Mater's a big city. It only makes sense that we have a big mall to match."

"Okay." But Allen still looked a little confused. "They have elevators though, right?"

They did, indeed, have elevators. Miranda and Allen rode one to the food court on the third floor, and once there Allen's stomach began to growl incessantly, as if in reaction to the smells. He was horribly embarrassed, but Miranda couldn't help but giggle.

"It's okay. Just pick something to eat," she said. Allen perked up and made a beeline for the Chinese food. Halfway there, he stopped short and gave her a look like a kicked puppy.

"I have no money," he said quietly.

"That's fine, I'll pay," said Miranda.

"You sure?" Allen said dubiously. "I eat a ton. I'm not even joking."

"Every time the city rewinds, my money comes back. Don't worry, my wallet can handle it," Miranda assured him. He gave a weak smile, and they got in line.

As it turned out, Allen _did_ eat a lot. He ordered half the menu. Miranda had thought perhaps this was his way of sampling the food, but no. He didn't pick out the choicest dishes and only eat them, he ate it _all_. There wasn't even a grain of rice left on his plates when he was done. And he'd done it so nonchalantly, perfect table manners and everything, Miranda wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't been paying attention. The worst part was, she couldn't shake the feeling that he would've eaten a lot more if he hadn't been worried about her bank account.

After eating, Miranda felt a bit better. Not well enough to walk on her own, but she didn't lean on Allen quite so much as they made their way to Claire's. As they walked, he told Timcanpy to look for any danger. The gold golem zipped away, and he confessed he just wanted it out of the way for a bit. Apparently it was fiercely protective, and was likely to bite the person who pierced his ear.

The person in question was a girl with long, wavy blond hair and blue eyes. Her name tag said 'Lala,' which was a strange name for a girl, but Miranda decided she had no right to call anything strange these days. She stood with an ear piercing gun, looking both exasperated and amused as Allen squirmed in his chair.

"Are you sure you want your ear pierced?" she said.

"Y-yes," said Allen, but he didn't sound sure at all. Miranda stifled her laughter from her own chair. Lala smiled and began to clean Allen's earlobe with a disinfectant swab, and he cringed as she did so.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. Just look at something else and focus on that," she said. Allen's eyes darted around, and eventually ended up on the young woman's breasts. Miranda supposed she couldn't blame him- he was a teenaged boy after all- but did he have to be so obvious about it?

"That's a nice necklace," he said, and winced as the gun went off.

"Oh?" said Lala, glancing down before bringing her attention back to his ear. She was wearing a necklace, a long black one with four silver beads and a large green teardrop shaped pendant. "Thanks. It was a gift from a friend. You said you wanted that earring…?"

"Yes, please." And soon the gold trapezoid was dangling from his ear. She gave him a handheld mirror to see it better and pulled a bottle of ear care solution out of the little cupboard.

"You'll need to clean it three times a day with this. Use a cotton ball or something, but don't take the earring out. Rotate it, but don't take it out for a few weeks. Here…" she held out a piece of paper with 'aftercare procedures' listed, "That should be all you need. Any questions?"

"Yes. Do you have a pen?" said Allen. Raising an eyebrow, she handed one over. Allen scribbled something at the bottom of the paper and ripped that part off. He handed it back with the pen, a bright smile on his face. "Please memorize those numbers."

"Did you really just give me your phone number?" Lala laughed.

"If something strange happens, or if you find yourself in trouble, dial that number. I mean it, memorize it," said Allen, smiling still brighter.

"Right," said Lala, rolling her eyes, but she pocketed the paper anyway.

Later, as they left the store, Miranda asked about it. "You don't have a phone. What did you give her?"

"It was the code for this communicator," said Allen, tipping his head so the earring swung with the movement, "If she dials that into her phone, it should connect to this immediately."

When Allen had gotten so phone-savvy, she had no idea.

"But why…."

"You saw her necklace, right?"

"Yes…" said Miranda.

"It had a piece of Innocence inside it," said Allen.

"That's what's causing this? Why didn't we do anything?" said Miranda, looking back at the store.

"It was a dormant piece, and she's obviously not the accommodator. She'd be asking why we're different if she remembered the loop," said Allen. "I didn't take it because it's too crowded here. I wouldn't be able to get away with it, and it's not doing anything. No Akuma in the area, either." He paused, as if considering something, and added, "Maybe I'll have Timcanpy go back and eat it later…."

Miranda opened her mouth to ask why in the world Timcanpy could eat Innocence but not other golems, when a wave of nausea swept over her. She slumped into him, groaning miserably. He staggered under her sudden weight.

"Whoa! Miranda, are you okay?"

"N-no," she said, squeezing her eyes shut. "I just… I just feel sick all of a… sudden…."

"I'm going to bring you home, okay?" said Allen.

"Sounds good," she mumbled. She felt him shifting her to carry her better, and let her head loll to the side. She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she was prodded awake much later. Someone was tapping her arm.

"Miss Lotto! Miss Lotto! Are you all right?"

She opened her eyes and made a gurgling noise to show she was awake. She seemed to be draped over Allen's back, piggy-back style. She was on her front porch, and it was dark out. Mother was there. The old woman looked worried.

"Oh, good. Miss Lotto, do you know this young man?" she asked.

"Mm? Yes…" Miranda murmured. "You told me to talk to the mirror… and here he is…." Mother looked stunned.

"The mirror? But that's…. Good lord, woman. Come on, boy, bring her inside. No wonder she looks half dead."

Allen said something in affirmative, but Miranda was slipping back into sleep and paid it no attention.

* * *

The plot is going to be picking up from now on. Mostly due to the purple butterfly of doom. I have big plans, but it'll be a struggle to actually translate it into writing.

Next update may be a bit late, as that will be finals week... college, gotta love it.


	5. Blood Boots

The room was dark, lit by floating jack-o'-lanterns scattered here and there. There was no way of telling how big the place was due to the limited light- only the people, the black and white floor, and a few piles of large numbered telephones were visible in the glow.

Most dignified of those present was the man off to the side, half in, half out of the shadows. He was a very handsome man, with long wavy dark hair that curled about his face. His skin was an odd reddish-gray, like stone with a faint tinge of blood beneath, his eyes a gleaming gold. There was a beauty mark under his left eye, and a lit cigarette held loosely in his lips trailed smoke around his head. On one of his shoulders perched a large purple butterfly with strange markings (rather like spades) on its wings. It glowed brightly, casting an eerie light onto his face.

Beside him was a little girl of the same skin color, same eyes, but with dark purple hair teased into spikes on her head. She seemed completely uninterested, twirling around to see how far her long skirt could fan out. Another man of the same coloring stood by her side to watch her, his long, lilac hair pulled back in an odd ponytail. He had a rather dopey expression on his face.

The next figure was taller than them. He was like a large, fat imp dressed in a comical suit that looked like it belonged on a doll. His top hat was covered in baubles, and from under this poked a pair of long, thin pointed ears. The face underneath was long, mostly overtaken by an enormous fanged grin. His eyes were hidden by a pair of small round spectacles perched on a hooked nose. His skin was gray, but while the others had that hint of blood and humanity, the imp had nothing but stone color. He sat in a rocking chair, tilting back and forth as he continued knitting something pink.

The last two in the room knelt on the ground, heads bowed and bodies trembling. Their kimonos were loose and their hair disheveled.

"Now," said the imp, "let's try again. Why don't you tell us what you were doing by the limbo door with so many golems?" Both of the girls pursed their lips. The imp's smile widened, if that was possible. He turned his attention to the brunette.

"You're the ringleader, aren't you? Come now, don't be shy…."

The girl stiffened, fear in her eyes, but her mouth stayed firmly shut. The imp chuckled.

"Fidora…."

"Wait!" cried the other, almost leaping to her feet, but too weak to do anything more than hop. "She doesn't know anything! I dragged her along."

"Kawamura!" the brunette hissed, looking scandalized.

"You shut up," Kawamura retorted.

"So what were you doing, then?" said the imp, obviously in no mood to hear them argue.

"I sent them there to look for Innocence," Kawamura said firmly. The clicking needles slowed.

"Innocence?" he said. "Please elaborate."

"There's a space in the limbo that's been cut off by something. We thought it might have something to do with Innocence, so we sent the golems to scout it out," said Kawamura.

"Is that so? Well, what have these golems told you?" said the imp.

"Nothing. We lost contact with them shortly after they entered limbo."

"So you don't know if there's any Innocence."

"No, sir."

The imp stopped his knitting and held up his project to look it over.

"Fidora."

The dopey-looking man's lips curled into a smile, and his tongue snaked out of his mouth. It was disgusting. Three feet long, it looked as if the tongue was made of some sort of semi-solid material that dripped and popped languidly, while eyeballs dotted the length, blinking and spinning in pseudo sockets. Kawamura gasped. Her body jerked from side to side, as if there was something rattling inside her ribcage. Her limbs twitched and flailed, her head snapped back, her eyes rolled back into her head, drool dribbled from a mouth open in a silent scream….

"Stop it!" her friend cried shrilly. "Please, stop!"

Fidora's tongue went back into his mouth and Kawamura fell over, gasping for breath.

"Do you have something to tell us, my dear?" the imp said sweetly.

"N-n-no," the girl stammered.

"Nothing else to add?"

"I told you everything," Kawamura wheezed. "Leave Sachiko out of this."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," said the imp. "Tyki, if you would…."

The man with the beauty mark strode over, grabbed Sachiko by the hair, and dragged her over to the side. He tossed her into a stack of telephones, and a few of them clattered down on her head. She yelped as one struck her face. The imp snapped his fingers. From behind his rocking chair lurched a trio of level threes. Kawamura shook like a leaf in her place on the ground, and Sachiko struggled to dig herself out of the phones.

"Kawamura! Please, leave her alone! She didn't do anything!"

The Akuma circled around Kawamura, giggling madly in anticipation. The woman's face stayed firm, but fear danced in her eyes.

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" said the imp.

"Nothing," Kawamura whispered.

"Oh well. Go ahead then, my dear Akuma."

With a shriek of glee, the three Akuma pounced. Kawamura let out a strangled scream before she vanished under their bodies. Her voice was cut off quickly as teeth and claws ripped into her. Sachiko froze, unable to do anything but whimper as tears leaked down her face. The imp focused on her, ignoring the Akuma and their noisy meal as if it happened every day. But knowing who he was, that might've been true.

"I don't like liars," he said. "They just make me so angry."

"S-she wasn't lying!" Sachiko cried.

"She was withholding information, so she might as well have been. I don't take kindly to such things. Besides, our own golems clearly showed you leading her. So, miss ringleader, now that your accomplice has died defending you, are you ready to talk?"

There was a crack of breaking bones by the Akuma, and Sachiko flinched.

"I'm sorry, she told you everything."

"No, no I don't think she did," said the imp, returning to his knitting. "I may not have rooted you pests out yet, but I know a bit about how your minds work. If you suspected Innocence, you'd send in a few scouts, maybe one or two golems, an Angel if you found something worthwhile. You sent in no less than fifteen golems. You know what that says to me? Desperation. Urgency. You lost something, or someone. And not just anyone, someone important. And with the amount of golems and sheer strength of the thing in limbo… it's a _general_, isn't it?" The imp's glasses flashed, and his smile became sinister. Sachiko gulped.

"A general?" said the little girl, finally stopping her spinning. "How lucky! Hey Earl, can I go take care of him?"

"No, Road. What would your daddy say if I let you run into limbo on your own?" the imp chuckled.

"Tyki can go with me!" she said quickly, grabbing the man's elbow. Tyki looked down with slight annoyance.

"Don't you have a ball to attend?" he asked.

"Oh, that's right!" said the imp, ears perking up. "Your mother's birthday ball!"

"But I don't wanna go! She wants me to wear a stupid yellow dress!" Road whined, hanging off of Tyki's arm.

"It's for your mother, you're going," the imp said, with a tone of finality. Road stomped her foot and scowled.

"Ugh, fine. But I get to play with this one when you're done," she said, pointing at Sachiko.

"Of course, my dear," said the the imp.

"Good," said Road. "Now, I'm off to see if Daddy can get me a new dress. See ya." She pranced off into the dark. Once her footsteps had faded entirely, the imp gestured with his knitting needles. Tyki raised an eyebrow and approached. Once at his side, he said, "Yes?"

The imp dug into his breast pocket and pulled out a card. "This is a list of Innocence accommodators who need to be wiped out. If you find these or any Angels, kill them. You can toy with any others, but make sure any from this list are scratched out." Tyki took it gingerly from the other's hand and scanned the names.

"You're telling me to go investigate that thing in the limbo."

"Yes. Make preparations and go as soon as possible."

Tyki smiled and bowed with a flourish.

"As you wish, my Lord Millennium."

Sachiko sobbed.

* * *

Miranda dreamed she was on an old, wooden ship. The sails were torn and tattered, the deck burned and cracked. The shadows of men were dying around her under the dark sky. But then, ahead on the bow, there was a huge green crystal- it stood in a vaguely diamond shape, thicker on the top and tapered below, with odd winglike structures near the top. The shadow of a person stood inside. Like before there was a song in the air, but this time it was haunting.

"The Millennium Earl is in search of you… looking for the heart now, have you heard the news?"

She turned away from the crystal, catching sight of things as she moved. A long dark ponytail. Red hair and an eyepatch. A little gleam of blue. Red eyes. Strange tattoos.

"Maybe you stole it from him…"

And now, in front of her, stood Allen looking haggard and sad. The ship was tipping.

"We'll see if it's true…."

Black water was swirling up, creeping over the deck and lapping at their ankles, rising higher and higher with a roar. Allen gave a wan smile, whispering, "_And the boy fell asleep_…"

The water closed over their heads.

* * *

Miranda woke, thrashing at her covers with a muffled yell.

"Miranda?"

There was the sound of feet rapidly approaching, and she tried to jump away (from what she didn't know), and ended up crashing to the floor. She tossed a few times more before giving up and letting out a wail. After a moment, the blanket was pulled away from her face and she found Allen looking down at her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Huh?" she said stupidly. After a moment her brain caught up. "Oh, yes! I'm sorry, that was a very strange dream…."

"A dream? It didn't involve any sharp, floating candles by any chance, did it?" he said, looking uneasy.

"No, it didn't. Not that I remember, anyway," she replied, puzzled.

"Good." He looked relieved. "You feeling better?"

"Ah, yes, now that you mention it," said Miranda, sitting up.

"That's good. I was worried when you passed out like that." And that brought back the rest of the memories from the previous day.

"I'm so sorry!" she screeched. "You had to carry me all the way back! I'm such a burden, I'm sorry!"

"It's fine! I should've expected it, really," he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"But still…."

"Miranda, you're not a burden. Please stop telling yourself you are."

"But… but…"

"Stop. You're fine." Miranda stared at him, confused. He looked completely serious. After a while he smiled softly. "I'll leave you to get dressed, okay?"

"Okay…."

He stood and left the room. Miranda just sat there for a while- it took a long time to digest the idea that someone didn't see her as completely useless- until she realized she was still sitting on the floor, tangled up in blankets. She wriggled free and went to the dresser. About five minutes later she emerged from the bedroom. There was a spare pillow and thick comforter on the couch in the living room, presumably Allen's makeshift bed.

Allen himself was in the kitchen, snooping through the cupboards. His black jacket was draped over one of the chairs, part of the structure jutting up through the torn fabric. Miranda quietly walked in and stood by the table to watch. She laughed quietly as he gave the Bisquick box a bemused look, and he turned at the sound.

"Ah, Miranda! Do you mind if I eat something?"

"Go ahead," she said.

"Brilliant!" he beamed. He flipped the box over and frowned at the directions. "…I've never actually cooked anything before."

"Never?" said Miranda, surprised.

"No. Back at HQ, Jerry makes all the food for us. The most I can make is a sandwich. Hm… do you have a measuring cup?"

"Why don't I help?" Miranda suggested, perking up and walking to another cupboard for supplies.

"That would be wonderful," Allen sighed in relief.

What ensued was a small kitchen disaster. She'd been happy to help him; she'd wanted to help in some way, and this was the perfect opportunity… but her infamous bad luck kicked in while stirring the batter. The bowl slipped out of her grip and splashed Allen's shirt. And then she tripped while bringing it over to the stove, losing more on the floor. More was lost on the stovetop while pouring it into the pan, and they lost two pancakes mid-flip (admittedly, Allen was to blame for the first- he put too much force in scooping it up and somehow managed to make it sail across the room and smack into the window). The remaining pancakes were burnt terribly on one side and kind of doughy on the other, but Allen drowned them in syrup and ate them anyway. Then he asked for more. This time Miranda kept her distance and did her best to coach him through it. He made quite a mess of himself in the process, and used the entire box of Bisquick. He spilled a lot less than she did, but either way he finished with flour on his face and clothes, and batter stuck in his hair. He wolfed down all of the pancakes, despite their dubious appearance. Miranda hoped they wouldn't make them sick.

After he was done, she shooed him away to take a shower. She prayed that he knew how to work the darn thing, and when she heard the water start, she let out a sigh of relief.

She drifted back to the kitchen to survey the damage. Batter everywhere, of course. She debated the pros and cons of just leaving it there. She didn't feel particularly confident about the odds of finding the right Innocence today, so if her gut was right, the cleaning would all be for nothing- the city would rewind and clean it automatically. Did she want to go through the effort? No, she decided, she really didn't. But that one pancake had to come off the window, that was just embarrassing. She peeled it off and tossed it in the trash. As she did, she caught sight of the jacket again. She picked it up off the chair to get a better look at the tears, only for the last of the shoulder seam to give way under her fingers.

"Oh, dear…" she muttered.

On closer inspection, this jacket was old. The edges were frayed, and it had the scars of many patchings in the past. How long had he owned this thing? She carefully put the jacket back onto the chair and headed for the closet in the front hall. If she wasn't cleaning the kitchen, she wasn't going to mend clothes either. But it was nearly December, so it was cold out there.

She found a spare jacket in the depths of the closet. It wasn't a very old one, but it was a bit of an ugly shade of orange that went to about mid thigh, with a high, propped up collar, a flap over the zipper, and an array of large brown buttons probably meant to bring peacoats to mind (though they failed miserably). Miranda had bought it in college when she forgot her good coat at home. Though it wasn't exactly fashionable, she remembered it being warm and comfortable. She brought it with her as she drifted over to the bathroom door. She knocked.

"Allen?" she called.

"Yes?" came the muffled reply.

"I noticed your coat was in bad shape, so I found a spare in case you wanted to borrow it."

"Oh, that sounds great."

"Good. I'll leave it over the back of the couch," she said.

"Um… sorry to ask, but is it possible to borrow a hat or something, too?"

"Sure."

Miranda wasn't in the habit of wearing hats, preferring hooded coats instead, but she went hunting for one anyway. No actual hats were found, but she unearthed a large green bandana and hoped it would suffice. She was walking back to the living room when she heard a noise from the bathroom, as if someone had dropped a shampoo bottle.

"Lala?"

Miranda stopped in her tracks, and not a minute later the water stopped too. Without that noise, she could hear what sounded like a phone. Oh yeah, Allen had that communicator in his ear.

"I-I'm sorry, who is this?"

"I'm Allen. We met yesterday, you pierced my ear?"

"N-n-no, I didn't. I didn't work yesterday! Who is this?" The poor girl sounded terrified.

"My name is Allen Walker. We talked yesterday and I gave you my number in case you were in trouble. You remember the number?"

"B-but that was just w-what I dialed. I didn't get it from anywhere," she said, confused.

"I told you to memorize it," said Allen, and Miranda heard him opening and closing doors. Oh, she'd forgotten to tell him where the towels were.

"Cupboard by the door!" she whispered loudly. She heard a squeak of hinges close by and knew he'd followed her advice. He kept talking to Lala, though.

"Are you in trouble? Is something wrong?"

"There's a monster!" the girl sobbed. "It tore down the walls and kept screeching and screeching, and it got Claire! It killed her! It killed her!"

Miranda's blood ran cold.

"Was it talking about Innocence?" said Allen.

"How did you…."

"Lala, listen to me. That monster is after you and your necklace. No matter what, you can't let it get you."

"The necklace? Should I just throw it away?"

"No. If the monster gets it, it'll be able to kill more and more people. That necklace is the Innocence, you have to keep it safe."

"Then what do I do? I'm scared…."

"Can you find a place to hide?"

A pause, then, "U-uh… I think so. Guzol says he knows somewhere…."

"Good. Where is it?"

"W-wh-"

"I'm going to come help you, but I need to know where to find you."

There was an odd noise, and Miranda imagined the phone being handed off to someone else. Sure enough, it was a different voice that answered: "About five blocks from the Falls Park, there's an old parking ramp. Can you meet us there?" said the cracked, tired voice of an old man.

"Of course." The door creaked open, and Allen leaned out, one hand still on the door and the other buttoning up his shirt. "Miranda, how long will it take us to get to Falls Park?"

"W-well, that's downtown. So I suppose… a half hour by bus? Maybe more?" she said.

"Did you hear that?" said Allen, eyes flicking left, though he couldn't see the earring. Miranda was a bit startled when it lit up in time to the responding voice.

"Half an hour, you say?"

"That's right. Possibly longer, but we'll hurry," said Allen.

"Thank you, son. We'll be waiting."

The line disconnected.

"When's the next bus?" said Allen.

"Oh, uh…" Miranda glanced at her watch. "There's one in five minutes, but I don't think we'll catch it in time…."

"We will. Hurry and get ready to go," he said, scurrying off. Miranda quickly followed. She threw on a coat and slipped on a pair of shoes, grabbing her bag as she went. She tossed the orange jacket at Allen, and he pulled it on swiftly. They left the house. The children were there, and as soon as they saw movement, they sang, "Miranda, Miranda, she's all bad luck…"

"Didn't your parents raise you better?" Allen grumbled. Miranda ignored him and the children's surprise while she locked the door.

"Hey, who're you? Miranda doesn't have any friends."

"Wait, are you her boyfriend?"

"Better break up with her! If you get too close, her bad luck will rub off on you!"

"Nu-uh! See how white he is? He's a ghost! Miranda's bad luck killed him and now he's haunting her!"

"Oh my god."

"Allen, the bus!"

"Right, we have no time for this. Let's go!"

He grabbed her by the hand and jumped off the porch, dodging around the kids and tearing down the street. Miranda was pleased there was no mud tossing today, but Allen was running much too fast and nearly wrenching her arm from its socket.

"Slow down!" she cried.

"Sorry!"

He did slow, but not by much. They made it to the bus stop just in time, right before the doors closed.

"Cutting it close today, aren't you?" said the driver.

"Sorry about that," said Miranda, pulling out her bus pass and Allen's fare. Once that was paid, she led him to the back and sat down. Just as the doors folded closed, a gold object darted in and sailed over to them.

"Timcanpy!" said Allen, surprised, as the golem fluttered before his nose. "I haven't seen you all day. Where have you been?"

In response, Timcanpy spat something into his lap. Another black, batlike wing, with an earring hooked on the joint.

"_Tiiiiiiiiim_!" Allen whined. Timcanpy grinned and proceeded to hide in his jacket, wrapping its tail possessively around his neck. "Good lord," Allen muttered, picking up the earring. This one was a thin silver stick about an inch long, with three black circles spaced along it. "Well, I've got no use for two communicators. Do you want to use it?" he said, holding it out.

"Is that really okay?" she muttered.

"Yeah. It's probably a good idea, especially if we're going off to fight an Akuma. Here, I'll put it on the right settings." He prodded at the black circles, and Miranda wondered how the controls were supposed to work. After a minute, he handed it over. "There, all set."

Miranda took it and put it through her left ear, putting the replaced earring into her purse. Now she looked decidedly mismatched. Maybe it was a good thing she wasn't job hunting today.

"Oh!" she said, remembering and digging through her pockets. "I almost forgot. I didn't have any hats, but I thought this might work." She pulled out the green bandana. Allen took it with a smile.

"Yes, that'll work nicely. I'm just getting a bit self conscious with so many people looking at my hair…." He tied it around his head like a cap. The dampness from his hair began to seep into it, but he smiled wider anyway. "Much better."

It was Miranda's personal opinion that he looked like a strange hobo, but she kept that to herself.

* * *

Kanda wasn't in a good mood. He never really seemed to be in a good mood, but this particular mood was worse than usual.

Yesterday had ended _badly_.

He, Lavi, and Lenalee had followed the golem to the mall (what kind of self-respecting alien gang hid out in a _mall_ of all damn places? Kanda hated malls), and they'd followed it up and down the length of the entire building, every floor. Kanda had nearly lost his patience when the golem finally found something.

Another freaking golem.

Only this one was gold with feathery wings and tail and legs and freaking devil horns. And teeth, couldn't forget the teeth, because when his golem flew to meet the gold one, it opened its mouth and tried to eat the damn thing. His golem hadn't expected that, and flew away in a panic, the gold one on its tail. Which left the three humans to chase after them, shouting and swatting and generally making a scene. That led them up and down floors and the length of the building _again_.

As it turned out, while the little black golem was easily able to outmaneuver a textbook, it had trouble evading something that turned as sharply, dove as swiftly, and flew faster than itself. It was lucky it didn't have a tail of its own, because the gold one followed so closely it would've caught the little bastard by it and turned it into scrap metal.

After one bite hit close enough to knock it off kilter, the terrified golem had done a nosedive into Kanda's jacket. He had the sense to zip it up quick and hold the collar tight around his neck so the other couldn't follow. Lenalee had jumped and wrapped her arms around him to close off the bottom of the jacket, never mind that it was a hug (he needed to rub that in Lavi's face sometime today), and the gold golem resorted to physical torment. It pulled at Kanda's hair and bit his ears, smacking him in the face with its wings and tail. It managed to dodge Lavi's hands for a good five minutes before the stupid rabbit managed to grab hold of it. He proceeded to pitch the wretch straight through the window of the candy store, shattering the glass and getting them an earful from the owner.

They made a break for it then, and the gold golem hounded them until they left the mall. Several attempts to get inside again resulted in them getting beaten off, which resulted in Kanda getting very pissed off. He didn't like getting his ass kicked by somebody three times bigger than him; getting it kicked by something the size of his fist was nothing short of humiliation.

The gold golem kept them there all day, and only left around 11:30 PM. At that point they charged back into the mall to scour every inch they could, because apparently that ugly little terror was a sign of alien activity. They found nothing but irate janitors (the broken window was not appreciated) and a few still-open shops, and by the time Kanda realized 'hey, we should probably figure out how to meet tomorrow,' it was 11:59. He managed to get that sentence out just before everybody lost balance and fell back into the coin fountain.

Which led him to where he was now, in Lavi's bed again, the idiot redhead snoring away next to him.

God, he hated Thursdays.

And Saturdays.

The whole messed up week.

He shuffled a bit for a better position, focused his frustration, and kicked. Lavi fell out of the bed again with a pained yelp.

"Damn it!" He pushed himself up to glare sleepily over the mattress. "Are you going to push me out every time?"

"I kicked you today," Kanda scoffed.

"Geez, I feel sorry for your wife," Lavi grumbled, settling back down.

Kanda got up and walked to the dresser. He pulled out some clothes he deemed satisfactory, and glanced back to see if Lavi was up yet. Nope, he'd just snuggled into the blankets and looked ready to fall asleep again right there on the floor.

"Hey, stupid rabbit. Get up."

"But I'm tired! Why do you have to wake up at seven every freaking morning? It's ungodly!" Lavi whined.

"It's eight thirty, get moving."

"Nooo….."

Kanda grimaced and pulled out his secret weapon.

"We have to find Lenalee."

It took a while for the name to sink in, but once the connection was made, Lavi was wide awake.

"Oh, crap!" he said, sitting up. "Where the hell are we supposed to find her? Think she'll be at the diner again?" He mumbled, tripping over the blankets in his haste to stand.

"God I hope not," said Kanda, remembering the traffic.

"Well where else are we supposed to look?"

"How should I know? Just get dressed!"

Five minutes later they were dressed and walking down the hall, golem trailing behind them- Kanda had found it huddled in the pocket of his borrowed coat. Lavi was blabbering about something Kanda didn't really care about and waving his toothbrush around, when there was movement down the hall. Around the corner, from the direction of the elevators, a girl ran out. She was an awfully familiar girl, too.

"Lenalee?" said Lavi, shocked.

"Lavi! Kanda!" she cried, overjoyed.

"How'd you find us?" said Lavi.

"I remembered you saying you went to Rose Cross, so I skipped the pancakes, stole brother's car, and interrogated the first person I found on campus," she replied, beaming as she trotted over to them. "He said Lavi lived on fifth floor Winters, so here I am!"

"How did you get in the building without an ID?" Kanda said suspiciously.

"This!" she laughed, holding up another familiar object. It was a golem, much like Kanda's, only its body was diamond shaped. It fluttered its wings contentedly. "It turns out they can open electric locks!"

"Man, I've got to get one of those. Do you have any idea how many times Gramps locks me out?" Lavi said, eyeing the golem with envy. Kanda didn't know, and he didn't particularly care.

"Where did it come from?" he asked.

"Rearview mirror of the car. Scared me half to death in the process," said Lenalee, looking a bit sheepish.

Well, Kanda could kind of understand why the golem liked her. She seemed guiltless (apart from the whole stealing her brother's car deal), and she was naive enough to jump in a car with two strange older boys for the simple fact they knew what day it was. Yeah, sounded pretty innocent to him.

"Oh, and look. It was carrying this with it," she said, pulling her hair to the side and pointing at her ear. The indicated earring was a small round stud, black as opposed to the white in the other ear. "Apparently it's a communication device!"

"How do you figure that?" said Lavi.

Lenalee smiled at her golem, and its eye flashed. Kanda jumped back a step and Lavi flattened himself against the wall as that same hologram man popped into existence. This time he seemed to be sitting, eyes glued on something and fingers flying across what had to be a keyboard. Oddly enough, only the man had been recorded. He glanced up with an annoyed expression.

"Fou, I'm busy," he said, and he sounded just as irritated as he looked.

"No duh," said a harsh, female voice. "But do you really want to send these off to Cross without explaining the deal about the communicators?"

"He already knows what they are."

"He knows what golems are too, stupid Bak."

The man paused, stared blankly at whatever he was working on, and swiveled his chair to face them.

"Fine. These are long distance communicators, not so complex or versatile as golems, they just help you talk to others on the same frequency. You already have one, but don't start handing these out to anyone. They're meant to work between worlds so these are a bit different, and they haven't been properly tested. They're not finished. The only reason I'm sending them to you is because the Noah are getting suspicious of this lab. I need to get anything incriminating out before they decide to raid the place. You hear that? None of your gang can get their grubby little hands on them. That goes double for your hookers! If I get wind that you gave away even one of these, I will murder you. Laugh all you want, but _I will make it happen_."

The hologram flickered and faded amidst the laughter of the 'Fou' girl. Lenalee didn't skip a beat.

"The golem had it pinned onto its wing, and I noticed yours had one too, earlier."

Kanda plucked his golem out of the air and inspected its wing. Yes, there it was: a round black earring with a fairly large black orb dangling from it, giving the illusion of a barbell. He unpinned it and put it through his ear (for the first time appreciating Daisya and his stupid dares).

"Hey, why do you guys get all the cool alien technology?" Lavi grumbled.

"Find your own," Kanda shot back.

"Spoilsport. Fine, maybe we'll spot one today that'll deem me 'innocent' enough," said Lavi, shrugging. "So, what's the plan?"

"First, I think Kanda had the right idea last night."

"Huh?" said Lavi, eye wide. Kanda had no idea what Lenalee was talking about either and quirked an eyebrow.

"Before we passed out, you said we should figure out where to meet tomorrow. It would be nice to have a meeting spot," she said, as if it were obvious.

"Oh, yeah. That is a good plan. Where's your house? If we're inspecting the mall everyday, it might be easier to pick you up," said Lavi.

"Yeah, way to sound like a creep," Kanda hissed.

"Copycat! Besides, you're more of a creep than I am."

"Boys," Lenalee said firmly, and they both shut up. She sighed. "I live a bit further from the mall than Rose Cross is, and I wouldn't want you picking me up anyway."

"Why, don't want us to know where you live?" said Lavi.

"No. I'm sparing you from my brother's wrath. He has a huge sister complex and freaks if a guy gets within five feet of me," said Lenalee, rolling her eyes.

"Oh… okay…."

"Yeah. For your own health and safety, best to keep a distance."

"Let's just meet here again. Worked today, didn't it?" said Kanda.

"Uh… you okay with that?" said Lavi.

"Sounds good to me, I guess," said Lenalee, shrugging.

"Good. Let's get to business, then," said Kanda. "Golem…"

"Hey, wait! I haven't brushed my teeth yet!" said Lavi indignantly.

"I think we have time to spare for that," Lenalee giggled. "I'll just wait here, okay?"

"Right. Just give me a minute to get this done and lock the door and I'll be right over," said Lavi, and he dodged into the bathroom. Kanda snorted.

He followed Lenalee to the tiny 'lobby' in front of the elevators, where two sofas and a table with mismatched chairs were scattered. Lenalee sat on one of the couches, and Kanda opted for one of the chairs. He watched her inspect her golem, choosing not to start a conversation. See, he had some terrible conversation skills- even he admitted it. He had a hard time talking to anyone without insulting them (his only 'friends' were the ones with skin thick enough to take a verbal lashing), so he was loathe to talk to Lenalee without Lavi there as a buffer. Hard as it was for people to believe, he generally had a few more scraps of respect for women, and Lenalee was a respectable girl- she wasn't babbling nonsense, wasn't drooling over him, clinging, or looking at the wrong places like that pervert of an RA, and while she played along with the whole alien gang war idea, she was definitely rational enough to be skeptical. He decided Lenalee was in his good books unless she did something immensely stupid.

It wasn't long before Lavi jogged over to them.

"Right, I'm ready. To the mall, then?" he said, jabbing the button for the elevator.

"We don't know if it's the mall," Kanda said grumpily. He really didn't want to go back there. Malls were just bad news.

"But the mall is the ideal place for an alien hideout," Lavi argued as they piled into the elevator. Johnny Gill was in there, and laughed a bit at that. Kanda glared at him to make him shut up, but while he winced, he didn't wilt so much. Apparently he felt safer with others around.

"What are you talking about?" he said, avoiding Kanda's gaze.

"What to do in case of immediate alien invasion," Lavi said easily. "UFOs will obviously attack the big cities and gathering places. Goodbye shopping malls. I'm sure you'll be devastated, Lenalee."

"I think I'll live," she said, rolling her eyes again.

"Oh, Lenalee! What're you doing over here?" said Johnny, adjusting his glasses as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "I've never seen you outside the science building."

"Science?" Lavi muttered with a grimace. Kanda shared his dislike of the subject; they'd met in their disastrous, shared lab class with the teacher from hell. As a result they were happy to stay well away from that area of campus.

"Kanda and Lavi here are helping take care of my brother's new inventions," said Lenalee, pointing at the golems. Johnny drew back, watching the golems with newfound caution.

"Oh! Er… well… T-they aren't like Komlin, are they…?"

"No, not in the least."

"Good…."

But Johnny still looked wary, and Kanda wondered what the hell a Komlin was. Oh well. Not important. The elevator doors opened and they filed out. Johnny went to one of the lobby tables to set up a chess set, while the others left the building.

"Mall?" said Lavi.

"What is it with you and the mall? I've had enough of it to last a lifetime," said Kanda.

"That's where the golem led us," said Lavi.

"And the gold one was our 'sign,' right? So why did the sign fly away from the mall if everything's in the mall?" Kanda growled.

"I don't know."

"It would probably be a good idea to have the golems track again, just in case," said Lenalee.

Kanda looked up at his own golem and said, "You heard her. Lead us to the thing causing this."

The golem hesitated, then turned to face another direction. Sure enough, it wasn't the direction of the mall. He sent Lavi a victorious smirk. Lavi looked unimpressed.

"Well what do you know…."

"Okay, let's follow it!" said Lenalee. "We're taking your car, right?"

Nearly twenty minutes later they were, indeed, in Kanda's car and driving. They'd been going for a while, but the golem leading them kept subtly changing direction. Even while they were going straight, it inched left and right. Judging by the silence and all sets of eyes on the machine, Kanda decided the others must've come to the same conclusion he did: their target was moving.

He stopped at a red light downtown, taking care to observe the golem's gaze. It was pointing around the corner to the right. He couldn't see what was there too well, due to the annoying awnings of a pizza shop and a badly placed sculpture. Lavi leaned forward, trying to see around it, but judging by his face he didn't have any luck either.

"Nothing?" said Lenalee in the back, and Lavi shook his head.

"I can't see a damn thing. Maybe it's an alien on the sidewalk. Or a flying saucer."

He squinted up at the sky before dismissing that thought, and Kanda was glad he didn't have to smack him for such stupidity. If there was a flying saucer, people would be panicking. Even kids knew that. Duh.

Amidst the stream of cars ahead, one of the city buses rumbled by.

"Dude," said Lavi, gaping at the golem, because now it was turning, following the traffic and….

"Oh my god, it's on the bus!" Lenalee cried.

Yes, the bus that just passed them. And they were in the right hand turning lane. Kanda swore loudly and stomped on the gas. Lenalee shrieked as the car sprang out into the traffic, nicking one of the others and shouldering into the flow.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Lavi whimpered, but Kanda didn't respond. He was too busy focusing on the damn bus.

It was half a block ahead of them, but there was a stop up there. Maybe while it stopped he could get the rabbit to jump out of the car and get on board. Sure enough the bus slowed, and the cars ahead switched lanes to pass. The golem twitched again, off to the side, following two figures as they jumped onto the sidewalk. The first looked a bit like a hobo, in a long orange coat and a green bandana over white hair, like an old man's. His slightly taller companion was a woman with curly dark hair, rather plain clothes. And winking above them, catching the light of the morning sun, was the gold golem.

"That's got to be it, the source," Lavi said breathlessly, as the gold golem perched on the old man's shoulder. "It has to be!"

All clues certainly led to it. But now those two were running down the street like a couple of bats out of hell. No way was Kanda going to lose them now. He swerved back into traffic, much to the distress of his passengers, and focused on tailing their quarry.

* * *

The parking garage was painted random bright, pastel colors. Its giant concrete hulk took up what had to be two city blocks. And judging by the open slats on each level, there weren't half the usual amount of cars inside. Which was fine by Miranda.

Allen ran into the street (narrowly avoiding a taxi), charging into the entrance and ducking under the bar as he did. Miranda tried to slow down before it and accidentally tripped over her own feet. She fell down with a squeal of surprise and threw out her hands to stop her fall. Allen stopped partway up the first ramp to look back, and once he realized what happened, he began to jog down again.

"Miranda! Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine!" she shrieked. Realizing too late that sounded rude, she toned down the hysteria in her voice and said, "It's okay. I'll catch up."

She shuffled under the bar and pushed herself to her feet. Her palms were skinned and her knees stung, but she ignored that and began to run again. Allen stayed put until she was level with him, and then turned to sprint once more. In that flash as he turned, she caught a glimpse of red in his eye.

"Is the Akuma here?" she panted.

"Yeah, it's on the fourth level. I'm guessing Lala's on the same floor," said Allen, and Miranda was impressed to note that he wasn't breathing very hard at all.

Up the ramp to the second floor, and she heard a strange rumbling from above. A roar followed, and the structure seemed to shake. They sprinted around the cars, all the way to the next ramp and up that too. It was at this point that Miranda started seeing damage. There were cars turned on their sides, others scratched or crumpled, tumbled over each other. A few of the lights were broken, and glass crunched under their shoes as they ran up the next ramp. They were nearly to the top when Allen made a choked noise.

There was a red Volkswagon Beetle flipping through the air toward them. Miranda couldn't think to do anything. The car was fast approaching her head, but Allen tackled her to the floor just in time. The Beetle hit the ramp just behind them and rolled, clattering and screeching. Miranda slowly looked up. There were very few of the cars left in their spaces. Instead, they were scattered around like little Hotwheels cars tossed by a child. More broken glass littered the floor, and there were long gouges in the concrete. In the middle of the wreckage stood a creature that had to be the Akuma.

The Akuma looked like a freakish, eight-foot-tall jester, with a face like a corpse, and bulbous eyes the size of Timcanpy. There was an ugly mask stuck to its chest, and skeletal limbs ending in gargantuan hands and feet.

"Oh my god," Miranda whispered.

Unfortunately, that little whisper was enough to catch its attention. Its tiny pupils darted to the side and fixed upon them.

"Hellooooo," it said, in a strange, sing-song voice, baring its pointed teeth in a grin. "Here for the Innocence?"

Allen slowly stood, keeping his mismatched eyes on the Akuma, even as he pulled Miranda up with him.

"What're you doing here, Akuma?" he growled.

The Akuma giggled, shifting from one foot to another as it said, "You know, _accommodator_."

"Do I?"

"What else does an Akuma do, stupid?" It dropped the car from its hand and turned to face them fully. Allen slid his feet into a wider stance. Miranda just stood there, feeling useless and helpless and in the way. Allen glanced at her.

"Miranda," he whispered, "can you try to find Lala? I think I can handle the two Akuma. At the least I should be a good distraction."

Two Akuma? Miranda could only see the jester. There didn't seem to be any others, but Allen was the one with experience…. She looked around and muttered, "A-any idea where…?"

"The other Akuma is by the elevator over there." Lo and behold, off to the side there was a little glass-enclosed area with an elevator. "I'll draw it away, so might want to check over there."

"But how are you going to…"

That question was answered as Allen's torso twisted sharply to the side. There was a blaze of green and a shout of "Innocence, activate! Cross Grave!" The hooked fingers of Allen's transformed arm slammed into the ground, cracking the cement, and sending dust and glass shards spiraling away in a rush of sudden wind. A great, blazing white cross seemed to paint itself into existence on the Akuma's chest. Another appeared in the shadow near the elevator. The Akuma shrieked as the cross dug in, like it was drilling itself into the thing's body. Allen lunged, but his claws didn't unhook- they ripped out of the ground amidst chunks of concrete, and swung in an arc toward the Akuma. The jester noticed, and jerked to the side, despite the painful-looking cross. It missed the lethal claws, but the arm still caught it, flinging it into the other cross. Allen charged after it with a howl. At this point the crosses began to dim, and both Akuma darted away quickly.

Timcanpy swooped past, and Miranda ran after it. The gold golem fluttered about the elevator, so she slowed beside it. An Akuma crashed into the wall nearby, and she ducked instinctively.

"Lala! Lala, are you here?" she cried. There wasn't a reply, and she looked around uselessly. There was nothing to see beyond Allen's fight and the debris scattered behind. No people, no nothing. She held her hands over her mouth and turned around again and again, searching for something that wasn't there. Eventually she stopped, facing the big '4' painted on the elevator doors. What was there to lose? She pressed the button. The floor shook again as something crashed behind her, and more glass skittered past her feet, just as the elevator doors opened.

"Stay back!"

Miranda squeaked and fell back onto her rear as a cane sailed past where her nose had been. She stared up at an equally startled blond girl wielding a thick wooden cane.

"L-Lala!" she stammered.

"Um. Who are you?" said Lala.

"I'm Miranda Lotto! I'm with Allen," said Miranda, scrambling to her feet. At the name, Lala lowered the cane.

"Allen? The guy on the phone? Where is he? How the hell is he going to help us with the monsters?" the blond said desperately, gesturing out at the garage.

It was at this moment - perfect timing - that Allen crashed into the wall by the elevator door. Both girls shrieked and jumped away as he slumped to the ground. He blinked, dazed for a moment, then heaved himself up. He looked quickly over at them.

"You need to get out of sight, quick," he murmured, then leapt back into the fray. Miranda's eyes followed his progress, then widened.

"Move!" she cried, jumping at Lala. They tumbled into the elevator just in time to dodge a chunk of what used to be a pillar. It smashed into the wall behind them and fell heavily to the floor. The doors closed in its wake. Miranda sat up and began to apologize.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I just wanted to make sure you didn't get hit by that rock, but I knocked you over! Are you alright? I'm sorry!"

"It's okay. I think you actually saved my life," said Lala, giving a halfhearted laugh.

There was a cough to the side, and Lala gasped, crawling over to another person Miranda hadn't noticed before. This one was an old man in baggy, worn out clothes. His face was blotchy and badly disfigured. He coughed into his fist as Lala knelt by his side and asked, "Guzol, are you alright?"

"It's okay, Lala. I'm fine," he replied, forcing a smile.

"Um… I'm sorry, but have you been hiding in the elevator this whole time?" asked Miranda.

"Yes. We can't outrun them, and there's nowhere else to hide. They pull up all the cars and break down the walls. And we can't run anywhere else; I'm afraid Guzol here doesn't have the energy he used to," said Lala, as she fussed over the old man. He waved her off weakly.

"I'm sorry I didn't put much thought into this hiding place. I'm afraid I'm just dragging you down," he said hoarsely.

"Don't say that…."

"I'm sorry, but isn't an elevator a bad hiding place? What if the cord breaks? We'll fall to our deaths!" said Miranda.

"We had no other option," Guzol coughed.

"But…."

The elevator shook, and they all cowered as the light flickered. Timcanpy flitted nervously near the ceiling as Miranda said, "I really don't think an elevator is a good idea!"

"Well where else are we supposed to hide?" Lala said in exasperation.

"The roof?" Miranda guessed.

"It's away from the monsters," Guzol wheezed, "and it very well could be safer than this elevator shaft."

Lala watched him closely for a moment as if trying to detect a lie or weakness, then stood and pushed one of the buttons. "Then we'll try it. Come on, elevator, work for me…"

* * *

Lavi was very good at picking things out in a crowd, so he was the one who kept an eye on their quarry throughout their mad dash. Kanda was too distracted by the other cars, and Lenalee just didn't have a good vantage point. So he leaned over the dashboard, following the gold flashes of the strange golem all the way to the parking garage by the falls. It had taken a while to actually get into the garage, though. First a truck ahead of them decided to get itself stuck in a turn, and the street was so packed they couldn't squeeze around it. And then there was the bar blocking their way up the entrance. Lenalee's golem took care of that rather quickly, but not before they heard a loud crash and a car suddenly sprouted out the side of the garage. For a moment they gaped up at the Buick Lesabre hanging halfway out of the third floor.

"Dude," said Lavi, unable to come up with anything else.

A Toyota Camry crashed in a nosedive next to them, the hood crumpling before it toppled over to the side. All there of them jumped. Lenalee screeched and practically jumped to the other side of the car, and Lavi smacked his head into the window.

"Jesus Christ!"

"The hell?" Kanda snarled, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white.

"Okay, I'm convinced, something weird's in there," Lenalee whimpered.

"God damn aliens and their god damn car-version bean bag toss!" Kanda griped under his breath, speeding into the garage. Lavi thought that was a pretty silly thing for Kanda of all people to say, but the thought left his mind as soon as he saw the wreckage inside.

"I think we just found a battlefield," he said quietly.

"You think?" said Kanda, zooming around an overturned pickup truck.

"Watch the glass!" Lenalee hissed. "The tires…"

"It's safety glass from the cars, we'll be fine."

She laid back against her seat and drew her feet up onto the chair. Lavi didn't say anything about it (though he knew Kanda would be pissed), but half-watched as she started scratching at her ankles. It was like a nervous habit, and the skin there had already gotten bright red and irritated. Just looking at it made Lavi feel itchy, and he scratched absentmindedly at his palm. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kanda swearing quietly and scratching angrily at his inner forearm. Damn, had they all caught fleas?

The damage was getting worse and worse with each floor they went up, and on the fourth, the whole place was in shambles. Dark, too- the lights were all out, and discarded cars blocked most of the slats on the walls, obstructing the sunlight. But they did see the figures. The old man from before was standing with his back to the elevator, left eye glowing red. His left shoulder was ablaze with green fire, and his arm transformed into an enormous, metallic-looking limb with deadly curved talons. He was facing off with an ugly monster clown thing that looked like the stuff of a kid's nightmares. The old man smashed one of the concrete pillars and tossed the thing at the clown, who wound up and punched it, breaking it into a million pieces and dodging just in time as the old man lobbed a convertible after it. And it kept going like that: rip up the floor to use it as ammunition, try to bash in his head with a car, try to get close to get in a punch or scratch, and the opponent would spin away just in time. It seemed almost effortless.

"Are you sure we're not on the set of an action movie?" Lenalee whispered.

"At this point I'm not sure," Lavi mumbled.

"What? Do you not see the freak with the arm? The freaking clown from hell? Obviously aliens!" said Kanda, gesturing wildly at them.

"Kanda, can you hear yourself…"

"Ah!" cried Lenalee, pointing.

The clown had pulled a trick or something, because now it had the old man pinned to the floor with one hand. It cackled and raised its free arm over its head, and before their eyes, it changed to match the old man's. Lavi barely had time to think 'that's not good,' before Kanda hit the gas.

"What are you doing?" Lavi screeched in surprise.

Kanda didn't respond, and the car sped straight into the clown. The hood buckled at the force, and they were all thrown forward in their seats. Lavi thanked whatever god there was that he was wearing a seatbelt, because that wouldn't have been pretty. The clown had been hit in the legs, and tumbled over, onto the top of the car. The ceiling gave way a bit, but not enough to hit them. The clown howled.

"Get out of the car!" said Kanda, kicking his door open. Lavi hastened to unbuckle the seatbelt and follow, stumbling away from the probably-totaled vehicle. The old man scrambled to his feet and looked him right in the face, and Lavi was surprised to see it wasn't an old man at all. If anything, this kid had to be in high school.

"What are you thinking?" he cried. "You have to get out of here!"

"What, no thank you?" said Lavi, disgruntled.

"The Akuma is going to kill you!" said the kid, and the gears in Lavi's mind began to turn.

"So I guess that makes you an Angel?" he said, grinning. The kid looked completely floored.

"H-how do you…."

"_ANGEL_?" screamed the clown.

"Dear god, you've made it worse," the kid mumbled. "Look, just get out of the way, don't draw their attention, don't get hit!" He jumped up onto the car and swiped with his claws, but the 'Akuma' jumped away, leaving the attack to go straight through the car roof. Lavi thought he heard Kanda scream in frustration on the other side.

"Angel!" the Akuma cried again, vanishing into the shadows, but its voice continued to echo around them. "Angel, Angel, Angel! Kill him, squish him, break his bones!"

"You're not too popular, are you?" said Lavi.

"I told you not to draw any attention. All three of you, get out unless you want them to kill you," said the kid, brows furrowed as he glanced around. He zeroed in on a spot behind Lenalee and cried, "Duck!"

Lenalee ducked immediately, and it was a good thing too, because a beam of purple light shot over, hitting the kid right in the gut and sending him flying into the far wall. Lavi gaped.

"Guys, I think we just lost our Angel!"

"What are you doing just standing there, dumbass? Get Lenalee and hide!" Kanda bellowed. He was running toward Lenalee, and after a second, Lavi could see why. There was another freakish monster looming behind her, what looked like a blond, one-armed, patchwork windup doll from hell. It hissed and brought its arm down to crush her, but she rolled to the side. She wasn't hit, but she let out a scream of pain and curled in on herself. The Akuma raised its arm again, but by that time Kanda had gotten to her side. He'd always been faster than Lavi.

"Get out of the way!" Lavi cried, and Kanda heaved the girl away.

Lavi was horrified when he noticed the red trail following them. _Blood_. But the Akuma hadn't even touched her! He ran over and knelt down beside them. She was breathing quickly, face contorted in pain, and clutching at Kanda's shirt like a lifeline. Kanda was holding her like she was made of porcelain, and it was obvious on his face that he had no idea what to do. The blood was coming from her ankles, right where she'd been scratching, staining her socks and converse. And it wasn't just dribbling out, it was practically pouring.

"Holy crap, what the hell happened?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Kanda snapped. "It just started gushing!"

"Gushing?" Lenalee repeated, face going pale. "It's _gushing_?" She looked down at the blood and let out a groan, head lolling back.

"Hey, don't you faint on me!" said Kanda, shaking her.

"Not fainting, just not looking at it," Lenalee said in a reedy tone.

Lavi glanced over his shoulder and saw the monster getting closer. He gathered Lenalee's legs under his arm and started to stand up, saying, "Okay, pick her up and let's get the hell out of here!" Kanda stood quickly, and they began to shamble back toward the ramp, but Lavi could see the Akuma closing in.

"_Don't you turn your back on me_!"

The kid shot out of nowhere, smoke uncurling from his coat as he descended on the Akuma and dug his claws into it. The Akuma wailed and reared back, but the kid clung on. The Akuma's arm drifted off to the side (huh, it wasn't connected at all), and it raised its stump. There in its empty socket, a sphere of purple light began to glow.

"The beam thing!" said Lavi. Kanda spouted some random Japanese and Lenalee moaned. Before they could do anything else, the light shot out at them. But in that split second, a lot of weird things happened.

The blood on the ground rose up into the air and rushed back to Lenalee's legs. That in and of itself was a really weird occurrence, so Lavi shouldn't have been surprised when it didn't go into the injuries again. No, it surrounded the outside of her legs, slipping under his hands and changing from liquid to solid. And then BAM! There was a flash of green and Lavi was jerked sharply forward. His feet left the floor for a moment before he lost his grip and crashed to the ground. His breath was knocked out of him, and he stared dazedly up as the purple light flashed overhead. It took a little while for his brain to catch up with his body, and when it did, he scrambled up and looked wildly around.

"Lenalee? Kanda?"

His answer came as a scream from the left, and he whirled around. Lenalee was still clinging to Kanda, and he was still holding onto her, but now he wasn't cradling her- he was holding on for dear life. They were rocketing around the level, propelled by the hard blood around her legs and a stream of green flame at her feet. They darted first one way, then the other, as her limbs flailed in an attempt to steady the course.

"Hit the brakes!" Kanda yelled.

"I don't know how!" she screeched in response.

"Just tell it to stop!" shouted the kid, still keeping the Akuma immobile. "It'll listen to you!"

Lavi had no idea how that was supposed to work, but he had no idea what was going on and the alien would probably know more about such things. Lenalee obviously thought the same, because she glanced down at herself and shouted, "Stop!"

The green fire went out, and they hit the ground. They rolled for several feet, and stayed still for a long while. Lavi was beginning to think they were really hurt when Kanda staggered to his feet. He didn't look well. Lenalee sat up too and looked about dazedly before looking down at herself. She blushed and quickly smoothed her skirt back down.

"Never again," Kanda was mumbling. "Never, never again…."

"Are you guys all right?" said Lavi, running over.

"What's it look like, you stupid rabbit?" said Kanda.

"Looks like you're shaken up, but okay," Lavi laughed. He glanced back to see the kid watching them. The Akuma went still, and the kid stiffened.

"Innocence," it said, in a deathly voice. The kid's eyes narrowed. He pulled his claws out and raised them, presumably for a finishing blow, but the Akuma shot straight up into the air. The kid slipped and lost his balance, but dug his claws back into the creature's body just before it crashed through the ceiling. More crashes told him that it was still going up, ceiling after ceiling.

"Hey, he's kidnapping our alien!" Lavi wailed.

"Then let's get him back," Kanda wheezed.

"Right. Lenalee, you okay? I can carry you piggy-back, if you want," said Lavi.

"Uh, no, I think I might actually be okay," she mumbled. It was then that Lavi got a better look at the blood on her legs. It didn't even look like blood anymore. It looked like a pair of dark red, thigh high boots, with rings about the ankle and stiletto heels. "Just… help me up, please?"

"Sure." Lavi held out his hands. She grasped them, and he helped pull her to her feet. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. A little lightheaded, but we've got to keep moving," she said.

"Well, if you ever do need that piggy-back…."

"Stop flirting and get your ass in gear," said Kanda, already weaving his way toward the next ramp. "We've got an alien to catch."

The other two stumbled after him, and after they made it to the top of that ramp, they were recovered enough to start running. They dashed up floors, past the sixth and all the way to the top, where the elevator didn't even reach. There, on the flat expanse of the roof, they found the Akuma again. The monster was speeding around in zigzag patterns, the kid still hanging off its back. Every time he managed to get his balance to regain his footing and get out, the Akuma swerved and threw him off, whipping him about like a rag doll. He couldn't unhook his claws, so he was stuck. Three more people were near the edge, scuttling away whenever the Akuma got close.

"Looks like we've got quite a few of them up here," Lavi panted.

"Right. I say we kill the big blue creep," said Kanda, and he stooped to pick up a chunk of debris.

"I don't think that's a good idea!" Lavi shouted, following the other as he sprinted toward the fray. The clacking behind them told him that Lenalee was right on their heels.

"Take this, you bastard!" Kanda snarled, throwing the concrete as hard as he could. As it turned out, he had some good aim too, because it nailed the Akuma in the head. It changed course immediately and swept towards them. Lavi was about to cuss Kanda out for provoking it when something slammed into his back, sending him lurching forward. Whatever it was propelled him around and past the Akuma, slowing sharply by the three humans. He looked around to see that it had been Lenalee and her weird blood boots.

"S-sorry. I just wanted to get you out of there," she said, looking slightly surprised. "I didn't think that would work."

"Let go of me," Kanda growled, wriggling out from under her arm.

"Innocence!" screamed the Akuma, whirling to face them and raising its stump to shoot again.

"No!" the kid shrieked, trying again to gain his footing, any leverage as he tugged vainly at his arm. "Get down!"

Lavi didn't need telling twice. He grabbed Kanda and Lenalee by the shirts and yanked them down with him to the ground. With a yelp, Lenalee reached out and took the nearest woman down with her- this woman let out a wail of her own and reached out for the others. That was all Lavi could see before the purple light flashed again. He blinked rapidly to regain his sight, and when he did, he found them minus two people. The second woman and the real old man were gone. Poof. Vanished. The remaining woman had one arm outstretched, fist clenched around the beads of a necklace with a broken cord. She looked horrified.

"L-Lala?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Hey, you okay?" said Lavi. The woman turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"Lala… It killed Lala…."

"Bastard! Turn to dust!" said the kid, planting his foot on the Akuma's hip and wrenching his arm. The claws ripped out with a rush of dark blood, and swung down one more time. The Akuma screamed in agony, and burst apart. The explosion sent a wave of heat over them and shrouded the site in smoke. The kid strode out of the smoke not too long after, surprisingly unscathed for someone who'd been in the middle of an explosion. He walked quickly over to the group and rested his normal hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Miranda, are you okay?" he said softly.

The woman looked up at him, and tears began to leak down her face.

"Lala and Guzol… they're gone…"

The kid's face twisted into a hopeless expression, and he knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. She stayed frozen in his embrace, but rested her head on his shoulder. At the touch, the green flames swept down his arm, burning into nothing and leaving a perfectly normal sleeve in its wake.

"Okay, enough of the sob-fest, tell us what the hell is going on," Kanda demanded rudely. Lenalee looked completely horrified at his lack of manners and swatted the back of his head. He gave her an indignant look. "Don't look at me like that! There's another one of those freaks out there, and I want to know why the damn city keeps rewinding!"

"You know?" said the woman, Miranda, straightening quickly and looking over at them.

"Of course we know!" Kanda spat. "You think we go monster hunting for fun?" The woman cringed at his tone, and Lavi swatted Kanda as well. He got a rude gesture in return.

"Hey, calm down," said the kid.

"Don't you tell me to calm down!"

"Look, the other Akuma is gone! I can't sense it anymore, so we're safe right now. So could you please explain what the hell _you're_ doing here?" said the kid.

"We were trying to track down whatever is making the city rewind," Lenalee said quickly, before Kanda could get a word in. Her golem made its appearance, flapping over to her side as she gestured at it. "We found these golems, and had them point us in the right direction."

The kid reached out with one arm and lightly tapped the golem. It made no reaction, but his brows furrowed.

"You said golems. Plural. There's another?"

"Sure is," said Lavi, and he reached over to pull Kanda's collar away from his neck, revealing the other golem nestled inside (it had hidden there the minute it detected the gold golem).

"No one here is supposed to have golems. Miranda said everyone uses phones…" said the kid.

"They came out of mirrors," said Lavi, shrugging. "We've got no idea where they came from originally."

The kid bit his lip, turning his attention to Lenalee and her blood-boots. He reached out one hand (nearly the same color as the boots, with black nails and a green cross in the middle) and said, "May I?" Lenalee hesitated, then held out her foot. The kid cupped her heel and turned the foot slightly, frowning. Lenalee looked uncomfortable with the scrutiny, Kanda looked ready to bite the guy's head off, and Miranda looked confusedly interested. After a few minutes of silence, the kid put his other hand over the ankle, where the blood had come out.

"If you keep it going for too long, it'll sap all your energy. It would be best to stop the invocation now," he said at last.

"Best to what?" said Lenalee, confused.

"Just tell it to deactivate," he said, smiling slightly.

Lenalee looked uncertainly down at the boots and said, "Okay… Deactivate."

The boots glowed for a moment, then vanished; or rather, they transformed. Two ruby colored bangles now circled her ankles, floating in the air. On her flesh, there were two bright red scars, one for each ankle where she'd been scratching, in the shape of a cross. The kid let go of her foot and leaned back.

"What the hell?" Kanda muttered, reaching out to touch one of the bangles. The kid's eyes flashed, and his hand shot out, gripping Kanda's wrist and pulling him closer. "Hey! Let go of me, you little brat!" Kanda snarled, trying to jerk his hand away, but the kid was strong and kept him there with little trouble. He pulled the sleeve up, revealing Kanda's forearm, and Lavi was stunned. Right where he'd been scratching, the skin was an angry, blotchy red, but there was a dark cross shape in the middle, just like on Lenalee. Kanda looked just as surprised to see it.

"What's going on?" the kid asked himself, poking at the cross with his free hand. Kanda swatted it away and growled, "Stop touching me, beansprout."

"Beansprout?" said the kid. Kanda wrenched his hand out of the now-lax grip and pulled it close to his chest, glaring daggers at the other. The kid looked unimpressed, but paid it no mind. He looked over at Lavi now and held out his red hand. "May I check you too?"

If Lavi was to judge, the kid was looking for the scratchy spots. Just the thought of it made his palm prickle. So slowly, he held out his right hand. The skin of his palm was red and irritated, but there was no cross. The kid squinted down at it, then began to scratch at it with his black nails. And those nails weren't like human nails, oh no- they felt more like dog claws than anything. Lavi cringed inwardly as the skin began to burn. He fought the urge to pull his hand back. The kid switched hands and pressed his normal thumb into the spot. Lavi felt a shock go through his body, and he hissed in pain, jerking his hand, but the kid held onto it, just as he had with Kanda. And now, inspecting his palm, Lavi could see another cross.

"This is insane," said the kid.

"I don't understand. What's going on?" said Miranda.

The kid stood up and backed up a bit so he had all of them in his line of vision. His expression was a mixture of awe and horror. "This can't be happening," he muttered. "This hasn't happened since the Three Days of Darkness…."

"Three Days of Darkness? That doesn't sound too pleasant," said Lavi, trying to smile and failing miserably.

The kid's hands went to his head, digging into the ugly green bandana as he looked around, as if seeing their surroundings for the first time. He smiled brokenly as he said, "It all makes sense now. Mater is a hub! Innocence is gathering here!"

"Wait, what?" said Kanda.

"It's the Heart!" said the kid, as if he hadn't heard him, giggling like some people do when trying desperately to find a bright side. "For the first time in thousands of years, _the Heart is waking up_!"

Lavi glanced at the others, who looked just as nonplussed as he felt. He kinda regretted going hunting for aliens now.

* * *

….You know how I said I would update every week? Well, that plan's kinda down the drain. Why is it so easy to write during class but so difficult otherwise? Anyway… Aiming for every other week now. I should be able to do that. Hopefully. More Tyki and butterflies of doom in the next chapter. :)

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story! It may take forever for me to respond, but I adore all of them!


	6. Not A Game

Miranda never thought she'd find herself sitting in a circle on the roof of a trashed parking garage. She never thought she'd be hunting down 'god crystals' either, but she couldn't help but feel this situation was rather bizarre.

Shortly after his little meltdown, Allen had snapped back to his senses and proceeded to gesture them into a circle. The boy with the ponytail was very reluctant to move, so they all just assembled around him. Allen sat down between Miranda and the red-haired boy. He still looked freaked out, but it was quickly changing into something like determination.

"Okay," he said slowly. "I think some explanations are in order. But first, I'm Allen Walker. This is my friend," at this Miranda gave a start and looked at him in surprise, "and contractor, Miranda Lotto. Who are you?"

"The name's Lavi. Lavi Bookman," said the redhead, grinning widely before gesturing at the others. "This lovely lady is Lenalee Lee, and the sourpuss over there is Yu Kanda."

"I'm just Kanda," said the ponytail-boy, scowling and kicking the other. "Call me Yu and I'll slit your throat."

Well he was a lovely conversationalist.

"Right. So what is it that you know so far? It'll be easier to explain if I know what I'm working with," said Allen.

Lavi looked over at his companions. Kanda turned up his nose, choosing to keep his suspicious glare on Allen. Lenalee glanced between Lavi and Kanda, but ended up settling on Lavi. She shrugged. Lavi sighed. It seemed he'd been picked as spokesperson.

"Well first off we know Mater's in a bubble. Kanda couldn't get out of it even on the original November 24th. Since that day all communication has been cut off, and no one can get in or out. The people outside are freaking, but inside nobody can see anything's wrong. Except for us, of course. When it hits midnight, we all pass out and turn up where we started the first morning we were here," he said. "The golems came across us randomly and popped out of mirrors. We learned what they were from some hologram recording they had. They were carrying 'communicators,' too, so that's how we got a hold of those."

At the mention of communicators, Allen glanced around, paying special attention to everyone's ears. Miranda did the same, and was a bit disappointed to note that all three of them were wearing earrings. Kanda only had one, Lenalee's were mismatched, and Lavi had two small silver hoops. She wondered which ones were the communicators.

"It was from that recording that we pieced together our theory."

"And that theory is…?"

Lavi hesitated. He had the sense to look abashed as he admitted, "Inter-planetary alien gang war."

A smile tugged at Allen's face as he sniggered. "Alien gang war?" Miranda fought the urge to giggle as he looked over at her and asked, "Why is it that everyone seems to think I'm an alien?"

"Hologram guy mentioned that the golems operated between worlds, and some gang called 'Angels' with Cross as the leader," Lavi defended. The name 'Cross' was familiar. If she recalled correctly, that was Allen's mentor.

"That's all right information, but I think you've put it together wrong," Allen laughed.

"Then what _is_ going on?" said Kanda.

Allen sighed.

"I'm going to have to start from the basics so you understand what's going on, so please bear with me. It's all very important to this situation. First off, Innocence," he said.

"That's what the golems are looking for, right?" said Lenalee. "Innocent people?"

"Uh, no. Not Innocents, but Innocence. The thing, not the people with it," said Allen.

"But how does that make sense?" she puzzled.

"Innocence is a special kind of material, also called the God Crystal. I've already told Miranda about it. Here. May I have the necklace?" he said, holding a hand out to Miranda.

Miranda looked down at her hand. Lala's necklace was still clenched in her fist. It was weird, thinking it didn't belong to Lala anymore. There were no bodies left behind from the Akuma's attack, so her mind was still half convinced they were alive somehow. But no, she told herself, they were certainly dead- killed by the same Akuma that had killed the little boy the other day. All for the sake of the tiny pendant she was holding. For a moment she hated it, and was all too eager to hand it over.

Allen took it and held it in his palm. With his red hand, he touched the pendant. A shower of green light sparked into existence, and something floated out, following his fingertips as they rose and turned, so it ended up floating in the center of his hand, glowing bright enough to be a star. Looking at its light, Miranda felt a soothing warmth come over her body. She felt relaxed, even a little bit happy for some reason. The others felt it too- their expressions were evidence enough. After a few moments of sparkling, the light died down to reveal the Innocence's true form.

It was just as Allen had described it. Like a tiny rubik's cube suspended in the air, in the middle of two crisscrossed gears. Its light flickered like a pulse, and it seemed to hum contentedly where it floated.

"Hang on, that's Innocence?" said Lavi, leaning forward to get a better look.

"Yes. This is Innocence in its purest form. It's not often found in this shape, because it tends to change when in contact with other things. Innocence is extremely powerful. It's called the God Crystal for a reason: if enough of it is brought together, it can cause huge tragedies: Earthquakes, floods, you name it, if the Innocence is used wrong, it can probably cause it. That said, it exists to find its other half, its accommodator; and to destroy its opposite, Dark Matter. An accommodator is a human who can sync with the Innocence. In a way, the accommodator is the master of their Innocence… but at the same time, Innocence is the master of its accommodator. When the two are combined, the Innocence forms itself into an anti-Akuma weapon, something that can destroy Dark Matter. Each anti-Akuma weapon is unique to its accommodator. My Innocence is called the Crowned Clown, and it changes my arm into an anti-Akuma weapon, as you've seen."

"So you've got one of those cube things in your arm?" said Lavi.

"Master thinks it's mainly located in the cross on my hand, and affects the arm from there," said Allen.

Lavi leaned down to see the back of his hand better and said, "Yeah, I guess it's green too…."

"Does that mean these are… an anti-Akuma weapon?" Lenalee whispered, touching the bangles at her ankles. They had to be, though Miranda wasn't too sure how a pair of boots could be used as a weapon.

"Yes, but I can't say I've ever seen one like it," said Allen. "See, where I come from, the Innocence is always parasitic. It exists within our bodies, and affects our bodies in order to become a weapon. I have my arm, Suman's is an arm, Krory has his teeth, Maria has her voice…. Yours appears to be made out of your blood, yes, but it's existing apart from your body. It's not a parasite."

"Should we be worried about that?" said Lenalee.

"I don't think so. You were able to tell it what to do. It responded to your feelings and tried to protect you. That proves it has accepted you as its accommodator," said Allen.

"And what about us?" said Kanda, pointing to his arm.

"Those crosses mean that you have Innocence as well, it just hasn't woken up yet. It's still dormant. Somehow you came in contact with it, and it assimilated into your body. It's probably going to take your blood to form a weapon, like Lenalee's did."

Kanda looked down at his arm with a black expression, as if he could scare the mark away with a dark enough glare. Lavi rubbed his hand nervously.

"Innocence's second purpose is, again, to destroy Dark Matter. In other words, it destroys Akuma. That drive overrides everything, sometimes even the need for its accommodator's safety. Your Innocence will force you to fight those things whether you like it or not, because Innocence is the only thing that can properly destroy Akuma," said Allen.

The others looked a little sick, and Miranda didn't blame them. The idea of being forced to fight those monsters was horrifying. She knew she'd never stand a chance, and looking at these other people, these schoolchildren, she couldn't help but think how frail they looked. They wouldn't survive long, would they? She felt a little glad that she didn't have this Innocence, but mentally beat herself over the head for such a selfish thought.

"I haven't told you about this yet, but with all of this, you should know," said Allen, glancing over at her. "What an Akuma is."

"A monster?" said Lenalee.

"An alien?" said Lavi.

"A tragedy," said Allen. Miranda tilted her head to the side, confused. "Every Akuma is born from a tragedy. When a person dies, their loved ones grieve. And when that grief is particularly strong, they get a visit from the Maker; these days, the Millennium Earl. He has the grieving person call the dead one's soul back, and traps it inside a machine called an Akuma. The Akuma kills the one who called it back and wears its skin. The retrieved soul becomes the energy source for the Akuma, and is twisted more and more with every human it kills…."

"Hang on, wait, _kills_?" said Lenalee.

"Akuma are machines that exist to kill humans and serve the Clan of Noah. I'll get to the Noah in a minute. Anyway… since an Akuma is wearing another's skin, they're practically impossible to tell apart from a normal human. That's part of what makes them so dangerous. The other part is that it evolves. If it kills a certain amount of people, it raises to a new level. At level one they're mindless killing machines. At level two they develop individual personalities and abilities, and become much stronger. Level three gives them another big power boost, even Angels have trouble taking them down. And then level four," he scowled. "_Generals_ have trouble with them. As far as I can see, the Akuma in Mater are all level twos."

"And they're here to kill people?" Lenalee said worriedly.

"That's not their first objective right now. See, they're after Innocence, to bring to the Noah clan. Akuma can't destroy Innocence on their own, only the Clan of Noah has that ability. While the Akuma are made of Dark Matter, the Noah are… something else. Not Dark Matter, but still something Innocence tends to react badly to. Noah power almost always trumps the others. They have high resistance to magic, they can destroy Akuma, and of course they can destroy Innocence. The only things that can destroy a Noah is strong enough Innocence or another Noah," said Allen.

"I'm not sure I follow. I get the whole who-trumps-who, but why? What's the importance of these things where you come from?" said Lavi.

"The Clan of Noah is the ruling class of my world. There are fourteen families in this clan, and each is attuned to a unique power. At the head of the first family is the Millennium Earl. In a way, he's the king. He's the one who creates Akuma, and he bosses them and the rest of the Noah Clan around. He used to be a decent ruler, but then he just… snapped. I don't know the details since it happened before I was born, but these days he's a cruel, oppressive tyrant. He's making a real effort to exterminate anyone and anything to do with Innocence, anything that could challenge his authority. So now those Innocence users and other rebels have banded together. Hence the gang you heard about."

"And that's where the 'Angel' thing comes in?" said Lavi.

"It's a ranking for accommodators," said Allen. "There are regular accommodators, but Angels are a step above. They're more than eighty percent synchronized with their Innocence, and they're acknowledged as holy creatures. The ones who surpass one hundred percent become generals, like Master Cross. The generals are the ones in charge."

He sat back and stayed quiet, letting it all sink in. The others looked troubled and still a bit confused. Miranda felt the same way. She'd known a little about it, but this was still a lot to take in.

"So all of this… it's all beyond the mirror?" she murmured.

"Beyond the mirrors and the limbo," said Allen, nodding.

"Um," said Lenalee, raising a hand to get their attention. "I think I understand what you're talking about, but I don't get why you're here. Why are all the Akuma in Mater? Why's it rewinding? What's the Heart you were talking about, and the Three Days of Darkness?"

"Good questions," said Lavi.

"Yes, _why the hell is it rewinding_?" said Kanda.

"Uh… in order…. I think the Akuma came because they were investigating the rewinding phenomenon. It's affected the correlating space in the limbo, so it didn't go unnoticed. More than likely the rewinding is caused by another piece of Innocence. I believe this Innocence is acting on its own to protect Mater, because that's where the Heart is. No human can tell the Heart apart from any other Innocence, so only Innocence on its own could detect the thing and decide to protect it," said Allen.

"And the Heart is…?" said Lavi.

"The Heart of Innocence is the vital piece. While it seems in every way the same to all other Innocence shards, it would be the turning point in the war. If the Heart is destroyed, every other piece of Innocence will break as well. That's why the Heart is what the Earl covets most," said Allen.

Lavi gave a low whistle. "That sucks for you guys, doesn't it?"

"No kidding," Lenalee muttered.

"That's why we're hunting for the Heart as well," said Allen. "We can't let it fall into the hands of the Earl."

"And what about the Three Days of Darkness? What's that?" said Miranda.

"The Three Days of Darkness happened thousands of years ago," said Allen, a dark look crossing his face. "It was a war that ended in the destruction of my world. Ours used to be much like your earth, but something happened that started the rivalry between Noah and Innocence. The Heart of Innocence woke up, and the other shards of the God Crystal gathered around it to form its army, in counter to the fourteen Noah families. The resulting battle brought the world to ruins and killed more than two thirds of the population. It was named 'The Three Days of Darkness' because it's said that the sky went black for three days before the last of the people escaped to the Ark."

"And the Ark is where you live now, isn't it?" said Miranda, remembering the contract.

"Yes," said Allen. "It's a false world, but a world that has sustained us while the rest has fallen apart. You can see why I'm worried now, right?"

"Innocence is gathering around the Heart again, so you're worried that a war like that's going to happen here," said Lenalee. Allen nodded.

"And even more, the Earl wouldn't hesitate to destroy this city or even this world to eliminate the Heart. He doesn't care if innocent lives are lost."

"That's horrible," Lenalee whispered.

"And that brings us back to this: how do we get things back to normal?" said Lavi.

"I'd like that!" Miranda said quickly. "I'd really like a plan for that. It's all getting too complicated now…."

"The only way to do that is to find the Heart and get it to safety. Either take out the threat or move it away. At that point the Innocence affecting the city should stop," said Allen.

"You sure about that?" said Kanda.

"Uh… no, not completely. But that's my guess," said Allen, shrugging.

"A guess?" said Kanda, face twisting in disgust.

"It's the one that makes the most sense," said Allen, eyes narrowing.

"That's what the stupid rabbit said about his alien theory," Kanda bit back.

"But I know the right info, he only had scraps of it," said Allen.

"And you're still guessing."

"You got any better ideas?"

They were glaring at each other now, so intensely that Miranda wouldn't be surprised if the air between them caught fire. "Um…." she muttered.

"Hey, cut it out, you guys!" said Lavi, and she was glad he had more guts than she did. "Last thing we need right now is fighting among ourselves. Cool it."

"Shut up," said Kanda.

"Down, boy," Lavi retorted.

"I'm not a freaking dog, you idiot!"

"You're acting like an angry dog."

"The beansprout's face is pissing me off!"

"My face?" said Allen, looking angry and offended. "Now you're just looking for reasons to hate me. What the hell?"

"I don't see any reason to trust you, mirror-bastard," Kanda hissed.

"I don't see any reason to trust you either, you know."

Kanda sneered. "Well then, I guess we should just…."

"Stop sabotaging the conversation, Yu!" said Lavi, looking exasperated. Kanda gave him a nasty look, ripped the golem out of his jacket, and threw it. It bounced off of Lavi's head with a sharp retort, making his head snap back as Kanda hissed, "For the last god damn time, don't call me that!"

"Then shut up and stop pissing off potential allies!" Lavi cried, fixing a one-eyed glare on the other as he rubbed at the growing bump on his head.

"I will not shut-"

"Both of you stop it!" Lenalee screeched. Everyone jumped and looked at her, wide-eyed. She looked fierce as she turned her glower on Kanda. "You! Whether you like it or not, Allen is the only one here who knows what's going on and isn't trying to kill us. I for one would be _thrilled_ to have him as a friend right now. And you!" she turned on Lavi. "Stop provoking him! I've barely known him two days and I already know he's got a short fuse!" Lavi cowered under her stare, while Kanda looked like he'd been physically slapped in the face. Lenalee closed her eyes, curling her hands into fists and releasing them three times exactly. She opened her eyes and stared up at the sky, as if gathering her wits, and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but I'm feeling very stressed right now," she said quietly. "So I'd really appreciate it if we could stop arguing."

"I-I'd like that too…" Miranda muttered. At the resulting silence she cringed a bit. Maybe it was poor taste to say that after the outburst? But Lenalee gave her a gentle smile, and she relaxed again.

"Uh… yeah… I'd like you as a friend, too, right now. You mind?" said Lavi.

"Not at all," said Allen, smiling as well. Lavi grinned in return, and both he and Lenalee looked expectantly over at Kanda. The other boy fixed his face into a glare again. Lenalee narrowed her eyes, and he leaned back a bit, mouth twisting oddly. He wavered, then scowled at Allen.

"You're still a damn beansprout."

"And you're still a damn idiot, but I'll try not to hold it against you," Allen said brightly. Kanda's scowl darkened, but he didn't say anything.

"Well now that that's over with…" said Lenalee, "How can we help?"

"Help? Um…" Allen seemed a bit surprised. "I thought… I thought it might take more to convince you to join…."

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice, do we? We have this Innocence…. So I'm going to do my best. At least then it'll feel like I had a choice, and I made the most of it. Really, imagining what would happen I said I didn't want to fight… Everything would stay the same. Mater would keep rewinding, I'd be stuck, lost in the same routine day after day, only with this knowledge weighing me down… and a weapon stuck to my feet. It scares me," she said, touching the bangles again. She had a dark smile on her face, as if she was laughing at her own stupidity. "I don't know what this thing is really capable of. What if it hurts me? What if it hurts my brother? I don't know how to use it. What if I accidentally hurt someone else? So… so I'm going to fight, if that's what we need to do. I'll do my best." Miranda felt her heart fly out to the poor girl.

"Lenalee…" Lavi muttered, but there was nothing else. It looked like he didn't know what to say.

After a moment, Allen gave a sad smile of his own. "That's actually your best chance of survival," he said.

"Say what?" Kanda hissed. "You're going to throw her at a bunch of monsters and say she'll be safe?"

"Not safe. From now on you're never safe. But if you're going to fight, then you'll know how to defend yourself. Otherwise you're just a sitting duck. And once your Innocence wakes up, it emits an aura: that's how an Akuma tracks down its prey. They're going to attack you soon," said Allen. "Your best offense is also a giant target. Kind of ironic."

"S-seriously? Then what do I do?" said Lenalee.

"Learn how to control your Innocence as soon as possible, and stick close to me. It's easier to fight them when someone's got your back," said Allen.

"In that case, how long before ours activates?" said Kanda. He didn't look at all happy with the idea of his friend spending more time with Allen.

"It may or may not have chosen you as accommodators. With the cross marks I _think_ you're both potential accommodators, but you could easily just be carriers like the necklace was. Innocence activates on its own in dire situations. For example, Lenalee was almost killed by an Akuma, but her Innocence sensed the danger and activated to help her. For you two, I think we need to coax it out," said Allen.

"And how do you propose we do that?" said Lavi. "Cause I really hope you're not planning on throwing us at an Akuma."

"No, I have another way of doing that. But I think we should relocate before we try it," said Allen.

"Why?" said Lavi, looking uncertain.

"Because I think your law enforcers have probably heard about the noise and damages by now, and it might be best to avoid being arrested," Allen said brightly.

"Oh… Yeah…."

"Good point…."

* * *

Howard Link was, in a way, terribly predictable. He was always aloof, easily annoyed, and liked everything to run on a strict schedule. His days usually ran like clockwork. It got to the point that other students could tell time by seeing where he was on campus ("Oh, Link's at the coffee shop? That means it's 2:00! We're going to be late!"). He had no problem with this, because Link loved his routine more than Kanda loved his own.

But today was throwing him off. Badly.

Despite its being Saturday, his internal clock was insisting that it was Thursday, and that he should be eating cereal, not waffles. But he always had waffles on Saturday. On Saturdays almost all of the worthless campus was still lazing in bed, so there was no line for the two waffle irons. Perfect day for waffles. So this odd craving for cereal was annoying. He ate waffles anyway (schedule over personal preference), and his taste buds rioted like he'd been eating nothing but waffles for a week straight. Which was a ridiculous notion.

There was also a strange disgust for his own wardrobe. He kept looking down at himself and thinking he should be wearing something else. For some reason he felt like he'd been wearing this crisp white shirt for far too long, and it was completely unprofessional.

In any case, it sent him into a bad mood.

To make the day worse, while stalking back toward the Sardini dorm he was accosted by a Chinese girl with pigtails and the strangest little bat-thing flying after her.

"Excuse me!" she cried, stopping short a foot away from him and bending over a little to catch her breath.

"Yes?" he said hesitantly, trying to remember where he'd seen her before. She was much too familiar…. Wait. That 'Lee' character in the science building, the one working on robots. He'd seen her hanging around that man before. She was probably a lab assistant or something. "Did you need something?"

"I was hoping you could tell me where I could find Lavi Bookman and Yu Kanda," she said, straightening up and smiling weakly.

Well there went any respect he had for this young woman. Lavi was an immature rule-breaker and Kanda was an irresponsible boor. To be looking for one of them meant you were bad news. To be searching for both, well, Link wanted to stay well away from that. Best point her in the right direction and get the hell out of there before disaster came down on his head.

"Lavi Bookman lives in the Winters dorm," said Link, nodding toward the tall building on the other side of the green. "Fifth floor, I believe. As for Yu Kanda, he doesn't typically arrive on campus until nine or ten on Saturdays."

"Oh, thank you! You're a real life saver!" said the girl. "Sorry to have bothered you!"

And with that, she sprinted off toward the Winters dorm. Link watched her go for a moment, then turned back to follow his usual path, unable to shake the idea that this scene wasn't supposed to have happened on a Saturday morning.

He always took the back door in his dorm- it may have been on the very edge of campus, right next to the road, but it made for a faster trip up to his room on the third floor. But today, as he rounded the corner of the building and pulled out his ID card, he stopped in his tracks. There was something there that most certainly wasn't a student. It looked like a giant metal balloon with a horned white mask near the top, dotted with strange appendages. The bottom had what looked like huge triangular scales, and from there trailed a tangle of wires. It was floating in the air by the door, looming over a pile of clothes with ash spilling out. Slowly, it turned and fixed the eyes of its mask on him.

"_Marc_," it moaned, and the sound made the hair on his neck stand up. "_Marc, why_?"

Link just stood there without moving a muscle. Instinct was saying that this was dangerous. He could vaguely remember something similar in a drawing long ago, and he struggled to remember what the accompanying text had been about. In the meantime he'd just stay still and hope it lost interest.

The creature watched him for a moment, seemingly confused. It didn't seem the most intelligent of beings, so maybe it hadn't actually seen him move, and was now under the impression he was a statue. That would be useful. Link kept his face impassive and his body still as stone. The creature floated a bit closer to see him better, and he forced his eyes to stay straight forward, not following- that would be a dead giveaway. Apparently it was for naught, because the creature decided it was better safe than sorry. It grunted, and its appendages all bent to point at him. They looked like gun barrels now, and there was something glowing inside.

Link doubled over as he was hit square in the stomach, the force sending him flying backwards toward the history building. He hit the grass and tumbled head over heels to crash into one of the trees. The few leaves that remained came spiraling down as he curled up in pain. Upon doing so, he realized there was something at his stomach. Horrified, he scrambled into a sitting position and looked down.

He hadn't been hit by the balloon creature at all. The thing that had sent him reeling was the size of a small dog, but smooth and white. It was the shape of an overturned egg, with two long, strange finlike limbs dotted with gold ovals and two blue circlets. It had a mouth with jagged edges reminiscent of teeth, and on either side of that trailed a long grey whisker. A ghostly blue flame seemed to flicker just under the surface of its skin, and it had a long tail that grew thinner and trailed away into smoke. Overall its shape and features made Link think of a catfish. A flying white catfish in addition to a balloon monster. He wondered if he was still dreaming.

"_Marc_," groaned the monster, drifting after him.

The catfish thing rose sharply into the air, smoky tail winding around Link's form as he stood too. The thing was lashing its tail, baring its pseudo-teeth as it faced the creature, and he came to conclusion that it was going to try to protect him.

Of course, seeing its size in comparison, it was definitely in need of some help….

* * *

Kanda had barely known this kid for a few hours, and already, he knew that he hated Allen Walker. There was something off about the guy. Even past the childish face and overdone expressions (and boy were they annoying), there was something lurking there under the surface that had Kanda on edge. Like a wolf in sheep's skin. Only the wolf had forgotten that it was a wolf, so it was surrounding itself with little sheep friends and bleating and… where was his mind going?

Long story short, he didn't like him. In fact, he decided this 'Allen' didn't deserve to be called by name. Of course that left the problem of finding a nickname or something that was still friendly enough that Lavi and Lenalee wouldn't protest.

He watched closely as not-Allen led the way across the bridge in Falls Park. Water rushed loudly below, and the roar of the falls followed them as they made their way across the lawn, past the trees and toward the ruins of the old mill. The white-haired boy glanced around before slipping in through the door. The mill was empty, the ground overgrown with grass, and a wooden stage was erected against the far wall. The gaps where windows had been and the lack of a roof left little illusion of real privacy.

Not-Allen (Kanda was still searching for an appropriate moniker) raised his arm into the air. The gold golem (another huge reason Kanda hated this kid) was perched on his fingers. It clung there for a moment, tail wound around his forearm and wings twitching, while he murmured to it. Once he was finished, it lifted up and flapped away, flitting around the walls and making odd, deep noises. He turned to face them.

"I think it would be best to pull out your Innocence to begin with. Who wants to go first?"

"Oh hell no," Kanda muttered.

"What?" said Lavi, and Kanda frowned at him, catching sight of Lenalee's confusion on the redhead's other side.

"Did you not hear that innuendo?"

"Innu- wait. Aw, ew. Dude!" Lavi whined. "Why'd they name the weapons that?"

"I don't think I got it. I don't think I want to get it," Lenalee mumbled, and Kanda felt the tiniest little prickle of guilt.

"Oh ha ha, you know what I mean," said not-Allen (why was it so hard to come up with a name?).

"Well I'm sure Yu's going to put off getting near you as long as possible," said Lavi, shooting Kanda a dirty look and stepping forward.

Much as Kanda hated to admit that he had _friends_, Lavi was the closest thing to a best friend he'd had since he was little, and he got pretty protective of those 'friend' things. He'd be damned if he let the damn mirror-bastard screw one up. So he stepped in Lavi's path.

"Screw that. I'm going first."

"Really?" said Lavi, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, just shut up and sit there," said Kanda.

"All right, show me your arms," said Allen, holding out his hands.

Kanda eyed the red hand dubiously. That thing looked all veiny and ugly and he didn't want it anywhere near him. But he forced himself to roll up his sleeves and hold out his arms, wrists up. A cross burned on each of his forearms. His lip twisted in disgust as not-Allen wrapped his hands around his arms, thumbs on the crosses. He felt vulnerable.

"Don't try anything funny, freaking beansprout," he growled.

The kid's eyebrow twitched. "Beansprout again?" he grumbled.

Aha, so that had touched a nerve. Kanda decided this was the new nickname he'd been searching for, and smirked in victory. "You heard me, _beansprout_." The beansprout rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Moving on… I want you to think of the Innocence."

Kanda looked down. The crosses were almost obscured on his arms, and he found himself wondering how the hell that little cube could be in two places at once. He glanced up and saw that the beansprout was waiting for a reaction, so he grunted.

"Can you feel it?"

"No," Kanda said shortly.

"Well, try. It's kind of like trying to feel your nose or something. You'll have to focus in on it," said the beansprout. Kanda curled his hands into fists and moved them around a bit. It caused the crosses to sting, which he supposed was close enough, so, "Now what?"

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Say what?"

"You heard me. What are you going to use the Innocence for?" said the beansprout, looking completely serious.

"Killing Akuma," said Kanda, "Isn't that obvious?"

"But how are you going to destroy an Akuma?"

"With Innocence, idiot."

"But _how_?"

Kanda was completely baffled, and he wasn't too happy about it. What did the beansprout mean, _how_? Obviously Innocence was the weapon, he'd explained that already. So why was he asking? One of the black nails dug a little harder into his arm, and despite himself, Kanda winced. But it was mid-wince he got the idea. _How_ meant _form_. The beansprout's 'how' was an arm. Lenalee's 'how' was weird boots. The Innocence needed a form, that's why he had to think of it! Probably, anyway. Worth a shot. What form did he want this weapon to take? He had a split second memory of his old home, the heirloom his grandmother displayed in the living room…. and then there was pain.

Once when he was younger, he'd accidentally jabbed himself with a razor blade while cleaning Tiedoll's palette, and it felt like two of those freaking blades had been jammed right into the crosses. He hissed in pain and tried to wrench away, but the beansprout moved with him, digging his nails down hard enough to draw blood. "Let go!" he snapped, grabbing the sprout's arms and shaking him violently. The other's face twisted in concentration and irritation and dug his nails in deeper. There was something shimmering green, but dark and malevolent radiating from his hands, and something in Kanda's body was balking at the idea of that being anywhere near him. It was more than disgust. It was hate.

"Let go!" he shrieked.

"Yu, calm down!" Lavi was shouting behind him, and Lenalee was saying something too, but he didn't really care at this point.

"I said let go!"

And at that last cry, his arms went numb. Well… it wasn't so much numb as it felt like they'd suddenly been asleep for a long time. The razor blade sensation was gone, replaced by an awful, annoying heaviness and prickling throughout his limbs, and it steadily began to move up his shoulders and into his torso. Was this what a heart attack felt like?

The little red crescents from the beansprout's nails vanished as the crosses opened up, and blood began to flow out like a small waterfall. Was blood really supposed to act like that? Wasn't it supposed to spurt or ooze, not pour like a faucet? The color caught his gaze and kept it, and he felt himself rooted to the spot. He was sure he still looked like he was freaking out (he definitely was inside), but he didn't move. Weirdly enough, he heard everything like it was underwater. The redness was all that existed. Nothing else mattered. It pooled on the ground at their feet, and the more it came out, the more lightheaded Kanda felt. He wavered, and fell to his knees, eyes still glued to the growing puddle. How much blood was he even supposed to have? What if this Innocence drained him dry? He stamped out the fear and decided to replace it with anger, since that worked in every other situation. So he opened his mouth and screamed out every swear word he knew. He cursed the stupid crosses and the blood, even if he couldn't hear it all very well.

A few last drops of blood dribbled out, and then, the puddle rose. Like Lenalee's had, it reared up into the air, but unlike hers, it began to shift and spin itself there, looking like a flurry of crimson feathers as it formed. It grew long, thin, and began to harden into a crystalline substance like the boots. A minute later, it had finished its transformation and fell to the ground. The point dug into the earth, keeping aloft the rest of a sharp Katana. Its blade looked black with a sharp red shine where the light caught it, the hilt wrapped in black and crimson with a cross at the top.

"That's your Innocence," said the beansprout, and Kanda barely noticed when he finally let go. He kept staring at the sword. "Go on, pick it up."

That shook him back to reality. He scowled and reached out to grab the handle. A thrill went up his arm, and he shivered. He pulled the thing out of the ground and inspected it. He didn't really know how to use a sword, but it was bound to be more useful than boots. Potentially less nauseating, too. And more threatening. Speaking of which, he pointed his new weapon at the beansprout and hissed, "What the hell was that?"

The beansprout eyed the blade warily, and his friend fidgeted restlessly as he tried to push it away. "I was using some magic Master taught me to get the Innocence to react. It's completely harmless, it just mimics Dark Matter. I'm guessing you didn't like it too much."

"No shit," Lavi muttered off to the side.

"I'm bleeding," Kanda growled.

"That was kind of the idea."

"No, you and your freaking claws made me bleed!" he snarled, gesturing at his arms. For some reason the crosses had healed like Lenalee's, but the little marks from the beansprout's nails were still very much visible and he resented that. "What the hell, brat? What the hell?"

"Oh grow up, it's barely even a scratch," said the beansprout, pulling a face. It went back to caution as the sword jerked closer to his neck. Kanda smirked again at his discomfort.

"H-hey! We've already gone over this! Allies, remember?" said Lenalee.

"He nearly bled me dry!" Kanda defended, keeping his eyes on the beansprout and the woman shifting closer behind him. As such, he wasn't able to see Lenalee swoop in to grab his ear. He sure felt it, though. "OW! The hell? What're you doing?"

"Keeping the peace!" said Lenalee, dragging him away by the ear, and dear god it hurt. "How did you not expect bleeding?"

Kanda wasn't able to form a coherent retort, and just made a strange squawking noise instead.

* * *

Miranda was very relieved when Lenalee came to the rescue. There had been something in Kanda's eyes for a minute there that really made her worry for Allen's safety. Thank god the disaster was averted. But it had been quite a scare, and suddenly she wasn't at all comfortable with the others. It was as if now that they had power behind them, they could get rid of the only thing that made her feel safe these days. And she had just stood there and wrung her hands while Allen was threatened. She felt like a horrible coward, but she was going to remedy that.

Lavi was stepping forward, jeering at Kanda's predicament, but still looking a bit nervous. He didn't seem half as volatile as the other boy, but who knew what someone would do when backed into a corner. She scooted closer to Allen as he approached. Allen looked a bit puzzled by the act, but gave her a reassuring smile before turning back to Lavi.

"Okay, let's see your hands."

Lavi did so freely, and Allen gripped his hands the same way he had Kanda's arms, thumbs over the cross marks on the other's palms. Lavi wiggled his hands a bit and said, "Right. You obviously know what you're doing. Can I ask how bad this is gonna hurt?"

"I'm not really sure, sorry," said Allen.

"What, you didn't feel it when yours woke up?" said Lavi.

"Well, I was already a bloody mess and running on adrenaline. The whole memory's kinda fuzzy," Allen admitted, shrugging sheepishly. "Besides, mine didn't form itself out of blood. I've got no idea how bad it'll hurt."

"That's reassuring…" Lavi mumbled sarcastically, but the smile stayed stubbornly on his face, and he showed no sign of backing down. "Let's just get this over with."

"Right. Focus in on your Innocence," said Allen.

Lavi closed his eye and sighed. After a while his nose wrinkled a bit, his lip twitched.

"It itches."

"Good. Now think what you're going to do with it," said Allen.

"Fight Akuma," said Lavi.

"How?"

And it was then that Miranda reacted. She moved even closer to Allen and grabbed the shoulder of his coat, watching Lavi warily. It had been this point when Kanda started getting violent. Maybe she couldn't do much to protect him, but at least she might be able to pull him out of the way or something. Allen looked over at her and whispered, "It's okay. They won't like the magic, but their Innocence will still recognize mine. They won't hurt me."

"Still…" she muttered, gripping the coat tighter.

Lavi made a choking sound and doubled over. Allen was obviously startled, and tightened his grip. Blood welled up from Lavi's hands, cascading down to the ground where Kanda's had been minutes before. His fingers curled and he let out a stifled whimper. On the plus side he wasn't shaking anyone or screaming, but it still looked painful, and the blood was really making Miranda nauseous. She'd never handled it that well. She looked away from the pool of red, focusing on the tie in Allen's bandana instead. There was movement out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly Lavi was talking again.

"Wait, no, no, no!"

Oh god, had it gone wrong? She whipped her head back around to see. The blood was in the air again, warping itself into a feathery form like Kanda's had done, but Lavi was looking at it with horror. Soon, it solidified. This one wasn't a sword, though. It looked like a mallet, the head the size of a small barrel, the long handle like a thin curtain rod. From the top rose a large, nasty-looking spike. It was black, but the head was striped, with thick horizontal strips of blood red. It fell, landing in the grass with a soft thunk.

"Oh my god, why?" Lavi whispered.

Miranda couldn't see why he sounded so upset, and it seemed the others didn't either.

"Uh…" said Allen.

"Lavi? You okay?" said Lenalee.

Lavi shook his head for a while, then leaned back and wailed at the sky, "Why the hell did I think of Whac-a-Mole?"

"You thought of what?" Kanda screeched.

Lenalee was stunned enough to let go of the young man's ear, and he went into a tirade about how this was life and death, not a freaking arcade game, while Lavi threw his hands up and continued to lament his awful train of thought. Allen watched them with something akin to fascination, then turned to Miranda.

"What's Whac-a-Mole?" he asked.

"Oh, it's a game. These plastic moles pop out of holes and you hit them with a mallet to put them back in and get points," said Miranda.

"Really? Sounds kind of useful to me," said Allen. "I don't know why they're so worked up about it." He shook his head and brought a hand to his lips to whistle sharply. The noise made Miranda jump, and it caught the others' attention immediately. "Okay, step two is learning how to use your new anti-Akuma weapon. Let's activate them."

"How?" said Lenalee, as Lavi scooped up his new weapon. "I didn't even realize I was doing anything the first time."

"It's actually pretty easy. Once you get the hang of it the Innocence will activate with just a thought, but it's most simple when you just tell it. For example," he glanced down at this arm, "Innocence, activate." In a flash of green, the giant armored arm had appeared at his side, resting on the ground due to its size. He flexed his claws. "See? Now you try."

Lenalee took a deep breath and said, "Innocence, activate." The bangles flashed, and green flame rushed up her legs, leaving the boots in its wake. She pivoted, checking that it was all the same as before, then gave a thumbs up.

"Okay, Kanda, your turn."

Kanda grumbled something about how it was Saturday and why the hell was the beansprout acting like the damn teacher, but hesitantly raised the sword. "Innocence, activate." Green fire kindled into existence at the guard and slowly traveled up the blade, vanishing at the tip and leaving shining grey metal behind; as if the blackness had been a sheath. He swished it through the air a few times, and seemed satisfied.

"Now you, Lavi."

Lavi sighed, apparently still caught up in his blunder, and held up the mallet. "Let's see what this thing can do. Innocence, activate." The handle extended a good five feet on either side of his hand, and the top, encased in green flame, grew to the size of a minivan. He yelped and had to rebalance it with both hands. "Holy crap, what was that?"

Miranda had ducked behind Allen as the thing grew, and peeked out as he began to laugh.

"Well you need to hit Akuma with that, not just moles," he chuckled.

"No kidding," said Lavi, eye so wide Miranda wouldn't be surprised if it popped right out of its socket. "So how do we actually use it?"

"Now that you're all officially accommodators, you have a bond with your Innocence. In a way, it's become a part of you while it continues to be something else. You follow?" said Allen.

"Not really," said Lavi.

"Innocence is a sentient thing, and you need to coexist with it. Because it's sentient, it's got a special connection with you, and through that, it'll tell you how to use it. I doubt you're anywhere near a hundred percent synchronized, so you won't be able to have a mental 'conversation,' if you will, but it can still send things to you. Nothing really big, though. It's more like added instincts than anything," said Allen.

"I'm not feeling any different," Kanda butted in.

"It'll be a lot more willing to communicate with you if you interact with it first. Particularly in the beginning, it's a good idea to talk to it. It likes the reassurance, and that strengthens the bond between you," said Allen.

"You talk to your arm?"

"I'm synchronized to the point that I'm nearly on the same wavelength," Allen corrected, smiling. "I don't need to speak for it to understand me."

"That's an Angel for you, huh?" said Lavi, and Allen's smile faltered.

"Um… actually, I'm not an Angel."

"Seriously? You're not at eighty percent yet?" the redhead said, stunned. "And you're already at the point of sharing thoughts? Jeez, I wonder what crazy stuff happens to the ones at a hundred percent…"

Allen laughed, but there was a strained tone to his voice that made Miranda uneasy. The others didn't notice, having turned to their weapons to attempt conversation. It was almost silly to watch them. Kanda seemed completely lost as to how to start a talk with a sword, and was making idle, forced comments about the color of the bricks in the wall. Lavi was chatting up the mallet like it was a woman at a bar, which made her giggle. Lenalee was chattering to her boots about what she knew about Akuma, so she sounded like the one most on task at the moment. Miranda wondered what they must look like to someone who knew nothing about this.

Hang on, Kanda had been yelling before, and even after that, they weren't exactly quiet. Their weapons could clearly be seen through the gaps in the walls, too. Hadn't they just been worried about police finding them?

"Allen, should we move?" she said, looking over at him. "We've probably drawn attention by now…."

"Tim's already taken care of it," said Allen, nodding at the golem flying overhead. "You probably noticed earlier, but Master put a set routine of spells into him that he can use whenever he wants. This was one of Master's favorites, actually."

"What does it do?" said Miranda.

"It sets up a kind of barrier around the inside of a room or building, so no one outside can see or hear us. Someone walking past would see an empty building, nothing more."

"Why was it your Master's favorite?" she asked, thinking of how such an ability could help rebel activities.

Allen gave her a vacant look.

"Miranda, Miranda. Do you really want to know why? Really?"

"Um… I don't know, do I?"

And his continued deadpan look informed her that no, she didn't.

The attempted conversations with Innocence lasted a good half hour before Allen stepped in with the thought of coaching them through what they'd learned. Lenalee went first- the other two weren't very confident in their knowledge, so she'd volunteered. Apparently the boots had somehow given her the command to kick things. She admitted that she was actually a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and had a reputation for strong kicks, so Allen directed her over to the wall to see what she could do with Innocence enhancement. And everyone (even Lenalee) was flabbergasted when she actually kicked a new window in the two-foot-thick wall. They figured that was enough of that, and she began flying practice. That one didn't go too well. Once she was up in the air, she had trouble steadying herself and steering, so more often than not, she lost control and ended up flipping and flailing through the air, screaming her head off until Allen caught her, his giant hand like a baseball glove. At one point Lavi gave a perverted grin and commented on her panties. Miranda actually kicked him in the shin and Kanda cuffed his head so hard he fell on his face.

When Lenalee took a break, Lavi jumped up next. He still had Whac-a-Mole stuck firmly in his head, so the idea was to try to hit Allen. He raised the mallet over his head again and again, swinging it down and missing every time. It didn't help that the thing kept changing size in an attempt to assist him. It would go from wine bottle size to bulldozer size, to minivan size, to the size of the Mona Lisa, and back again. By the end of it, he was panting like he'd run a marathon and hadn't caught Allen once.

Kanda had moved off to the side during Lavi's turn and began chopping at the air with the sword. It was jerky and amateurish at first, but those new instincts Allen had talked about started kicking in. The blade started moving with a newfound skill, and Kanda's own movements became more refined and controlled. Miranda never would've believed such fast improvement if she hadn't watched it herself.

As it neared five o' clock, she straightened up and announced that she was going to get some food for them. She wasn't doing any good by watching, and she wanted to help out somehow. Lavi and Lenalee were particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of food. Allen seemed reluctant to test her wallet again. But she managed to get everyone's orders and hurried off. A few blocks back into downtown, there was a sandwich shop she used to work at. The manager was none too happy to see her there (apparently she hadn't been forgiven that mishap with the oven), and was eager to hurry her out the door again. So she wandered back, arms laden with bags of sandwiches.

By the time she crossed the bridge again, the sky was dark. Lamps lit her way along the path, and the falls light show was going- the water below rushed blue, then orange, then purple. From the outside the mill looked deserted. For a minute she was horrified that they'd picked up and left her behind, but upon crossing the threshold, she found the area flooded in pale blue light and all four of her companions running around inside. Kanda was still sparring against air along the wall (he was a hell of a lot faster now), and opposite him Lenalee was hovering a foot above the ground, concentrating on moving forward with the wall's support. Lavi and Allen were darting around in the middle- Lavi had gotten a little trickier now, and rather than constantly swinging it up and down, he would twist the mallet and veer it from side to side and change only the handle's length. The handle actually caught Allen in the side a few times, and when that happened, the head would rocket to enormous size and the handle shrunk in an attempt to draw him in; he always slipped away, though. Miranda watched all this for a little while, then realized what she was doing and cleared her throat nervously.

"Um… I brought the food," she squeaked.

"Food?" said Lavi, whirling around, and everyone looked up.

"Oh, thank god. I need a break," said Lenalee, settling back on the ground.

"Right. Everybody, deactivate your Innocence first," said Allen, drifting over even as his arm returned to normal.

Next thing Miranda knew, the black/red 'sheath' was back on the sword, Lavi's mallet had shrunk to the point it fit in his hand, and Lenalee had bangles about her ankles again. They all staggered over to her, and they settled down into a circle on the ground again. Miranda handed out the sandwiches (one for each of the others and five for Allen), and for a while all that could be heard was chewing.

"So… where is the light coming from?" she mumbled, voicing her concern.

"Golems," said Allen, jerking a thumb up at one of the corners. At the top of the wall Kanda's golem was flapping determinedly. Light was shining from its eye like a floodlight, and at the other end of the building, Lenalee's was doing the same. On a wall apart from them both, Timcanpy had its mouth open, light emanating from inside.

"Oh, that's handy."

"They can adjust the brightness, too. It's very useful, actually," said Allen.

"They can pick locks, too," Lenalee said cheerfully.

"What?" said Miranda, surprised. "Then why did Timcanpy break down those doors?"

"Tim's a pretty unique model, he doesn't have that feature," Allen muttered, then cleared his throat. "But speaking of golems, I'd like to know how so many of them managed to get here. They can't get to the limbo on their own, and I'm sure Master doesn't even know I'm gone yet. Mind filling me in?"

This last part was addressed to the golems in question, and it suddenly became darker as Kanda's golem swooped down in front of his face. Timcanpy made an odd snarling noise. The black golem shuddered and ducked closer to the ground.

"Oh hush, you," Allen snapped. "It's already got an owner. Sorry you guys, Tim's possessive."

"Possessive?" Lenalee echoed.

"It doesn't like other golems getting near me or Master," said Allen, shrugging. "Now, if you'd please…."

The golem hesitantly rose up, and a crackle announced the beginning of a recording. After a moment, there was another person kneeling among them. Miranda shrieked and dropped her sandwich, and Lavi and Kanda started, but Allen and Lenalee were completely unfazed. The person who appeared was a beautiful young woman, with long reddish-brown hair and eyes of a similar color. She was wearing a pink kimono. She also seemed to be a bit transparent, and when she spoke, there was a certain quality that immediately made Miranda think of a recording.

"Right. Okay, all of you!" she said. "I want you to go through that door, and one of you has to get a communicator to Allen Walker. When that's done, form a network around Timcanpy and locate the Innocence. Assist Allen Walker and whatever other accommodators are in there. And stay low!"

The girl shuffled a bit, as if she was struggling to open something behind her. Lavi leaned over to get a better look at her face while Miranda glanced at Allen and asked, "What's going on?"

"Golems can record what they see," said Allen. "In this case, the golem recorded the one who sent them all here. Dear god, she was really asking for trouble."

"You know this girl?" said Lavi.

"She's a friend of mine, her name's Sachiko. I hope nobody saw her doing this. She'd be executed for sure," said Allen, brow furrowed.

"She's hot!" said Lavi, still very much enraptured with her looks.

"Did you not just hear me?"

"Yeah, I did. How do we know if she got caught or not?"

"We don't," Allen grumbled.

"Sachiko… Isn't she one of the people who was supposed to be sending food through to you?" said Miranda.

"Yeah," said Allen, and his expression grew darker. "You know what, that might be it. She isn't helping because she was caught near the door…"

"What about your other friend?" said Miranda.

"Sachiko likes dragging other people with her on her schemes. He was probably with her, which makes it all the worse."

"How's that?"

"He was an accommodator. If they really were caught, he'd probably be tortured and killed by now and we'd be out one more Angel."

"It's really bad over there, isn't it?" Lenalee muttered.

"Yeah. But Sachiko had a good plan. As far as I can tell, all the golems have finished making their network and I've got a communicator. All that's left is for them to help us find other accommodators and Innocence. It'll be a lot easier with all those eyes. I should probably fix your communicators, though," said Allen.

"They need fixing?" said Lavi, nonplussed.

"They need to be on the right wavelength if you want to reach me and Miranda," he replied.

"Oh, that'd be useful," said Lenalee, and leaned forward as he shuffled over. He messed around a bit with her earring before declaring it functional, then turned to Kanda.

"No," Kanda hissed.

"Kanda…."

"I said no."

"But…"

"No buts."

"What if…"

"I don't care."

"What about…."

"For the last time, no. Keep your hands to yourself. Hey! I don't want your damn claws anywhere near my head! Back off!"

Miranda rolled her eyes at the ensuing squabble and watched the hologram of Allen's friend. The girl was looking back, waving her hand as if to beckon them somewhere. _Sachiko_. Miranda wondered if she'd met the same fate as the boy at Wenham.

* * *

Tyki Mikk gave a sigh of contentment, raising an arm above his head and stretching. It had been a long time since he felt so _free_. No top hat, no suit jacket, shirt untucked, top two buttons undone, hair down… yes, this was the life. There was a spring in his step as he passed what looked like a school, fishing around in his pockets for a cigarette. He didn't find any, but that didn't dampen his spirits much, because damn it, he was free.

Getting to this world had actually been very easy. He'd found a girl and somehow convinced her he was a vampire, which apparently made everything okay. She was enthralled by the idea when he requested to make a contract and have her pull him through; she'd enthusiastically gone through with it. She seemed to think that was going to be the start of some sort of dramatic, forbidden romance, but instead he slit her throat, grabbed the piggy bank on the dresser, and waltzed right out the door. He didn't feel too guilty about it because honestly, what was she expecting from a bloodsucker?

Since then he'd wandered around the city (apparently called Mater). Some of the customs were a bit different, the technology and fashions especially so, but all in all it was the same as it was on the Ark. A great gaggle of humans going about their business.

No one seemed to notice or care that there was no leaving the city, and reports from the Akuma he encountered told him that the frozen time stopped at a certain point, preventing them from going any further. So that was what he was here for: investigating the barrier.

He stopped at the corner by the traffic lights, watching intently as red changed to green. The glow of headlights passed as a little blue car rumbled forward, and upon crossing the street, vanished. Tyki stared at the spot, then turned around at the sound of another car approaching. But no, it was the exact same car trundling down the street from the opposite end of the school. He grinned as it crossed and vanished again, only to pop into existence a block away. He could see clearly through the window that the driver had no idea anything was happening. The barrier must have been erected right across that crosswalk.

"Oh this is getting good," he muttered.

Almost the instant he spoke, something began to shimmer in the air where he guessed the barrier to be. Curious, he strode forward to inspect it. This brought him right into the middle of the road, though, and the blue car was incoming again. It honked angrily, and there was a screech of brakes. Tyki held his hand out behind him. There was a flare of purple light and an awful screech. The car crumpled against thin air, and with a flick of his finger, the wreckage skidded backward down the street. He returned his attention to the odd occurrence before him. The air was practically bubbling by now, and something darker was whirling into view. After another second, a person stumbled into existence. It was a young man, maybe early twenties, with short brown hair and a large hooked nose. He wobbled precariously, but managed to stay upright.

"Hey there," said Tyki, slapping on a smile and strolling over. The other jumped a foot in the air and whirled around.

"Whoa! Where did you come from, man?" he screeched.

"Been here a while, actually. Didn't know other people could come through," said Tyki, shrugging.

"Other people? You came through too?" said the guy, looking shocked. Rightfully so, actually. Through the mirror was one thing, but what was it that allowed someone like this through the barrier? If it was caused by Innocence, perhaps more Innocence? For a moment he was glad for the light of the wrecked car behind him. It was probably casting him in silhouette, so the other couldn't see the gray of his skin.

"Yeah, I got through this morning. Different place, but yeah. You got any idea what's going on?"

"No clue. I wasn't able to get in yesterday or before. Maybe the dome thing's screwy?" the other said, glancing back where he'd come from. "Hey, where's Jean? Jean? Marie?"

"You didn't see me before. Maybe you can't see what's on the other side of that thing," Tyki mused.

"I guess… Uh… who are you?"

"Call me Tyki. And you?"

"Name's Daisya Barry."

Tyki reached out a hand to shake, and at Daisya's touch, he felt a strange rush through his head. He tightened his grip, and his smile became sinister. Daisya tensed up, trying and failing to pull his hand away.

"Hey! What the hell…"

"Well what do you know. Innocence."

* * *

It almost annoys me that this is an AU and I'm following the Innocence/Akuma thing so closely. Ah well. More Tyki in this chapter, if that's what you're looking forward to. I'm sure you can figure out what's going to happen next.

My spellcheck keeps telling me beansprout is two words, but screw that, I like it better as one.


	7. Three Down

In this dream the sky was dark purple, a near abyss of the color with wispy lavender clouds strewn across it. A strange, pockmarked crescent moon hung, forbidding and black, in the middle. The ground was perfectly flat, a glassy black surface that reflected everything perfectly. Enormous, puppet-like giants with ugly painted white faces lurched across the landscape toward her, their images wavering in the reflections below.

On either side of Miranda stood a man. From what she could tell they both had dark hair and pale, sallow skin that nearly glowed in the dim surroundings. They strode forward, neck and neck, towards the giants with a purposeful gait.

More music bubbled in the air, a dismal, almost carnival tune, with two voices singing along in haunting unison.

"There was one baby cradle. The one became two..."

The men were heading for their deaths.

"…One cradle has become a twin now…"

Miranda moved after them, calling for them to stop. But somehow, even as she ran, their slow pace was steadily outdistancing her. She reached out, but they were too far ahead.

"…One baby cradle, covered in fog, a single star…"

Miranda sobbed, and there was another voice crying with her.

"…Rocked in a graveyard and disappeared…"

* * *

Miranda was woken the next morning by chattering in her hears. For a moment she thought it was the radio on her alarm clock, but the voices sounded awfully familiar. Groggily, she opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling, allowing the noise to seep in.

"No, seriously, I found one! Kanda, how stupid do I look?"

"Like a retarded rabbit."

"See, even he thinks it's great!"

"Wow, Kanda really knows how to compliment somebody, huh?"

"You know it. Hey, do you think the car's back?"

"Well if we're back, it's pretty likely."

"Great. Kanda! Chop chop! We've gotta get to Miranda's house for the rendezvous!"

"Don't order me, damn it!"

"If we don't hurry, Lenalee will get there before us!"

"I think I'll beat you there anyway. If I can remember the address, at least. Hey, Miranda? Allen? Are either of you hearing this? Where's your house again?"

Miranda sat up quickly and held a hand to her ear as she realized what was going on. The communicators! It seemed Allen had gotten them to work after all.

"Lenalee? Is that you?" she said.

"Yeah, it is. Sorry, did we wake you up?"

"It's no problem," she mumbled, waving her hand though the girl couldn't see her. "I should be up anyway."

"Oh," said Lenalee, but she still sounded apologetic. "Um… could you tell me your address again? I want to make sure I'm going to the right place."

"477 Coachlight Drive. It's by the south HyVee," said Miranda. Lenalee repeated the address quietly then asked, "Is there anything I should be looking for? Special mailbox, garden…?"

"All the houses here look the same. But there may be some children standing in front of mine. Just dodge the mud and you'll be fine."

"The mud?" Lavi's voice echoed.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lenalee said slowly. "Thanks. Oh, brother. Yes, I'm talking to a friend. No, it's not a boy! Can you hear yourself? No, I don't have a- Komui, put that wrench down!"

There was a commotion over the line, as if Lenalee was involved in a scuffle. At the mention of a wrench, Miranda got worried and said, "O-oh dear, is everything all right over there?"

"Everything's fine. It's just that my overprotective brother thinks I've got a secret boyfriend."

There was a muffled wail that sounded an awful lot like "_Lenalee! My sweet baby sister! You can't let a dirty man take you away! What about your purity_?"

"Believe me, man, her purity's intact," Lavi drawled, and the wail became a screech.

"A man! What did you do to corrupt my precious Lenalee? If you laid one finger on her, I'll…."

"Komui!"

"Holy crap, no wonder she didn't want us to pick her up yesterday," Lavi muttered.

"Sister complex," Kanda grunted.

"_Lenalee_!"

"Both of you shut up!" Lenalee cried. "Here! Miranda, please explain to my brother that you are a _woman_ who lives alone near an all-girls school, with no scandalous reputation and no hidden life of prostitution."

"…What?" said Miranda, flabbergasted, as Lavi burst out laughing.

"Reassure him that I'll escape this day a virgin," Lenalee said quickly and quietly, as if very eager for this to be over with and forgotten forever. Now Lavi was in hysterics.

"Um… well… hello… Komui?" Miranda said hesitantly.

"You _sound_ female," the man's voice mumbled.

"Well, I am," said Miranda. "And I do live alone. There's no school here that I know of… but I suppose, in a way, I do have a scandalous reputation." She trailed off with a wave of misery, voice becoming more of a despairing moan at the end.

"What?" came Kanda's deadpan.

"Go on," said Komui, and his voice brought to mind a predator closing in on his prey. She was prey. That just made the depression worse. Miranda was pretty sure she was wearing 'the look' as she said, in a voice that just oozed melancholy, "They call me the bad luck woman."

"Huh?"

"The bad luck woman. Fired from a hundred jobs and mocked by the entire neighborhood because she can't do anything right. The children even wrote a song for me. 'Miranda, Miranda, she's all bad luck. Full of doom, full of gloom, what a dumb and ugly duck…'" It ended in a snivel that was quickly muffled by the comforter as she held it to her face.

"Oh, um…."

"Damn, Komui, whoever you are, you're heartless! I think you made her cry!" said Lavi.

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry Miranda, I just don't want my baby sister hanging out with the wrong people…" Komui said quickly.

"I'm the wrong people, aren't I?" Miranda sobbed.

"No, I…"

"Komui, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Lenalee, don't be angry with me!"

Miranda halfheartedly listened as Lenalee chewed him out. Lavi got the address and offered to pass it along if Lenalee forgot again, and the communicators went quiet. She stayed there, head half buried by the blanket and sniffling, until she realized there were more voices. These were the voices of strangers and much softer. Did she have visitors? She didn't think Allen would let anyone in, but who knew… She pulled herself out of bed and cracked open the door. From there she could see the TV on. That explained some of the noise.

A loud whoop from the kitchen caused her heart to skip a beat, and she nearly had a nervous breakdown right there. What was going on? She dashed past the living room and into the kitchen, fully prepared to grab the broom and beat whatever the threat was, but stopped short at the sight. The whoop had been from Allen. He was standing by the stove, radio in one hand and spatula in the other, and he was looking at Miranda with a delighted expression on his face.

"I know this song!" he said excitedly. "Master Cross has this thing back at HQ! I know this!"

"Eh?" said Miranda, unable to think of anything else. Next thing she knew, he was coming at her, saying, "Come on! Sing with me!" And he started dancing, which involved a lot of wiggling around and flailing of the arms. It was truly horrendous. "Wake me up before you go go, don't leave me hangin' on like a yoyo…!"

Miranda couldn't take the absurdity. She burst out laughing, and her little giggle fit hit so hard, she had to hold the countertop to stay upright.

"Wake me up before you go go, cause I'm not plannin' on goin' solo! Come on, Miranda!"

She managed to get a few words out between laughs. Her reedy warble was nothing compared to what Allen was belting out, but she found she didn't care. Soon they were cavorting around the kitchen table, singing at the top of their lungs. "Take me dancing tonight…. I wanna hit that hiiiiiiiiigh…!" When the song finished, they flopped down into the nearest chairs. Or, they tried. Miranda missed and ended up sprawled on the floor. But she couldn't help smiling anyway as he pulled her back up.

"You're a very good singer," she chuckled. "You should try out for American Idol."

"I have no idea what that is," he replied cheerfully. "But you're not so bad yourself. I'm glad it worked."

"Worked?" she repeated.

"When you were talking to the others just now you sounded pretty depressed. I was hoping to find something to distract you, but I didn't want to run in and scare you, and your entertainment screen was talking about stocks. Radio worked, apparently." He held up the little box and beamed brighter. "I love that song. My dad used to listen to it all the time. Drove Cross up the wall."

"You get our radio stations?" said Miranda, surprised.

"Nah. There's a little container he puts in the radio that has recordings of a bunch of music from your world. Can't remember what it's called, though."

"A CD?"

"No, I don't think that's it…."

"_Dude_!" Miranda flinched at the volume of Lavi's squawk, and she could see Allen doing the same. "That's just sick! What kind of freak…."

"Lavi? Is something wrong?" said Allen, sounding a little annoyed.

"No shit! Turn on your TV, the news crew looks like it just got here. Jesus Christ…."

Miranda and Allen shared a confused look before heading over to the living room. Miranda switched the channel to the local news, and immediately let out a squeak of horror.

It was a young man, hung by his ankles from a lamppost. His arms were spread, held up by chains that led up to his feet, so he looked as if he'd been crucified upside down. The stillness of the body left no doubt in her mind that he was dead.

"My god…" she whispered.

Allen sank down onto the couch, clutching his face as he stared at the screen.

"You seeing it?" said Lavi.

Allen nodded, before remembering the other couldn't see him and saying, "Yeah, we see it."

"What kind of freak does this?" Lavi muttered. "Anyway, we're heading out. We'll see you guys soon."

"Be careful, the murderer's still out there," said Allen.

"We'll keep that in mind."

With a crackle, the radio went out again. On the TV, a young blond reporter was standing in front of the body, thick pink scarf nearly covering but not quite able to conceal her excited grin.

"This is Sandra Sardini coming to you live from Bell Road, where early morning commuters made a shocking discovery! A young man found dead, suspended from the streetlight, as you can see behind me. The victim has not yet been identified, and neither has the cause of death! There are no obvious injuries on his body, no blood…."

"Excuse me," said a policeman, appearing onscreen and looking very disgruntled. "I need to ask you to leave."

"What? No way! Free speech!"

"This is a crime scene. Please move away."

The two squabbled as Miranda looked over at Allen.

"Was it an Akuma?" she asked nervously.

"No, it's too clean a kill. If it was an Akuma, he'd either be torn apart or just a pile of dust. I know what it is, though," he said.

"What was it, then?"

"His name's Tyki," Allen sighed. "Just a second." He put a hand up to his communicator and said, "Can everybody hear me?" Miranda could hear an echo in her ear, and wasn't surprised when the others chimed in.

"Roger that."

"What the hell?"

"Oh, I can hear you."

"Good. Hurry over here, we've got trouble. And if anyone asks you about the rewinding, play dumb. Especially if he's got gray skin."

"Gray skin? How does that even work?" said Lavi.

"Noah," Allen said simply, and they all fell silent. Miranda flopped onto the couch, feeling like her legs had temporarily failed her.

"Are you sure?" Lenalee said quietly.

"Yeah. He's already killed someone, and by the way he did it, I'm sure the victim was an Innocence accommodator. I think you're all in danger right now, so again, be wary, play stupid," said Allen.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," said Lenalee.

"Yeah, us too. Step on it, Yu!"

"I will murder you!"

The radio fizzled out.

"The Noahs are after you, right?" said Miranda.

"After anyone even remotely related to Innocence. We're all in danger at this point. We have to keep a very low profile. And if any Akuma sees us, we need to destroy it. We can't let it get away and tell the Noah about our whereabouts," said Allen.

"But… didn't an Akuma escape already?" said Miranda. "The clown…?"

"It did. But on the plus side, I think it left before Lenalee's Innocence activated. It doesn't know they're accommodators," he replied. "That'll buy us some time, I think."

Miranda curled her hands and stared down at her lap. Time. She couldn't tell if they had all the time in the world, or if it was running out fast. When the day didn't even change, it felt a little bit like both.

It was nearly ten minutes later that there was a creak on the front porch. Miranda jumped and Allen looked up, eyes narrowed. Three knocks. Miranda hesitated, but got up to open it. Allen ghosted along behind her like a protective shadow, but as it turned out, that wasn't needed. As soon as the door swung open, she relaxed. Lenalee was fidgeting there on the welcome mat, and her eyes lit up when she saw them. The children lingering by the car in the driveway, however, looked stupefied.

"Ah, Miranda! I hoped this was the right place," she said, smiling.

"Yes, it is. Come in, come in," said Miranda, giving a smile of her own and standing aside. "Did you work out things with your brother?"

"Yep. And he sends his deepest apologies for offending you," she said, slipping in. "As payment, I'm going to get him to make you pancakes when this is all over with. His pancakes are the best in the world."

"The pancakes!" Allen gasped, and he sprinted back into the kitchen. The girls watched, nonplussed, and slowly, Miranda began to remember what he'd been holding earlier. A radio and a spatula. Good god, he'd been in the middle of making pancakes, hadn't he?

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" she shrieked.

"It's no problem, nothing burned!" he called back.

"Uh…" said Lenalee.

"Get out of the way, you little brats!"

Both Miranda and Lenalee whirled around. Kanda and Lavi had just arrived. Kanda was leaning out his window and cussing furiously at the kids on the driveway- it was obvious he wanted to park there. The kids panicked and scrambled onto the lawn, watching fearfully as the car zoomed up and parked. Both young men climbed out. Kanda locked the door and stalked up toward the porch, but Lavi stayed behind just long enough to tell the kids, "Don't worry, he won't murder you unless you look him in the eye."

"Good morning, you two," said Lenalee.

"Good morning my ass," Kanda grumbled, shouldering his way between the two of them.

"Well that was pleasant," Miranda mumbled, watching his retreating back.

"That's just the way he is. I don't think he even knows how to be polite," said Lavi, strolling up. "You got here okay, I see."

"Yep. No problem at all," said Lenalee.

"Same here. Oh hey, Miranda, look!" said Lavi, and he beamed as he held out something. It took a moment for her to realize it was a golem. It looked a lot like Kanda and Lenalee's, but its main body was more the shape of a teardrop than anything. And looking up, she could see the left earring was different- still a silver hoop, but larger, thinner, and with strange details along the outside. "Pretty sweet, huh? Woke up and bam, there it was. Am I lucky or what?"

"Very lucky," she laughed weakly.

"You betcha! Now, let's get down to business," he said, squeezing past them.

"Sounds good," said Lenalee, trailing after him.

Miranda shut the door and followed. Kanda was standing by the sofa, while Lavi peered around the corner into the kitchen. Allen emerged holding three plates stacked with pancakes. He offered these to the others, announcing proudly, "I've mastered the oven! No cold pancakes!"

"Thanks!" said Lenalee, accepting a plate, as Lavi drooled over his own. "I missed brother's pancakes today."

"Yu wouldn't even let us stop by the cafeteria. You're a lifesaver, beansprout!"

Allen looked a little miffed by the nickname, but chose not to say anything. Miranda felt a little bad for him, but really he had it easy. 'Beansprout' was nothing compared to 'bad luck woman.'

"So you want to tell us what's going on with the dead guy?" Lavi continued.

Allen's face grew somber as he brought out more plates. "Like I said before, this is the work of a Noah. The leader of the third house, actually. His name's Tyki Mikk."

"You know him well?" said Lavi.

"He's one of the Earl's favorite dogs. If he wants people dead, he sends Tyki. If he wants to scare somebody within an inch of their life, he sends Tyki. If he wants anything done right, he sends Tyki. Normally he has Akuma keep people in line, but since accommodators can destroy them, he needs a different, stronger thing to keep _them_ in line. Being a Noah, Tyki's very powerful, and he's a magic user. His brand of magic lets him 'touch' and 'not touch'-"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean? Grope or not grope? Seriously, is everything a virginity joke in your world?" Kanda scoffed.

Allen scowled at him. "I mean he can choose not to touch the wall and walk right through it, or choose to touch air and walk a mile above our heads."

"He can walk through walls? Crazy…" said Lenalee.

"So what did he do to Yeegar, then? Touch or not touch?" said Lavi.

"Yeegar's the victim, then?" said Allen, and at the nod, he continued, "Well, he did both. What with his ability, Tyki's developed a favorite method of execution- he reaches in without touching skin, muscle, or bone, 'touches' an organ, and rips it out. It's usually the heart."

"Nasty," said Lavi, wrinkling his nose, and Miranda had to agree. She set her plate of pancakes to the side in a way she hoped was discreet.

"As you could see, this method leaves no injury on the surface. It's all internal," said Allen.

"And this is the guy you think is after us."

"Yes."

"How do you know all this?" said Lavi, raising an eyebrow.

"Through tracking, pulling reports together, and gambling," said Allen.

"Gambling? What does gambling have to do with anything?" said Lavi.

"Tyki's a gambler. He's a horrible cheat at poker, especially. I've played him a few times for observation," said Allen, shrugging. "You can learn a lot about someone when stripping them down to their underwear."

For a moment all was silent as they stared at Allen. Lavi looked bemused, Lenalee shocked, and Kanda's lip was curling. Miranda felt confused and horrified, and she was sure it showed on her face. Gradually Allen realized what he'd said and added quickly, "He ran out of other things to bet! Are your minds always in the gutter?"

"Apparently," Lavi sniggered.

"Ugh. In any case, Tyki's good at putting off a harmless image, but don't let him fool you. And for god's sake, don't let him touch you. He's pretty fast, but there's still a chance to outrun him if all else fails."

"Have you ever done that?" said Lavi.

"Me? No. Others, yes."

"I'm guessing we stand no chance against him, huh?" said Lenalee.

"Let me put it this way. The Clan of Noah trains all of its children from a young age to fight and kill. He's got at least a good twenty years of training behind him. You just started out yesterday."

"Yeah, we're screwed," she muttered.

"You said he had gray skin. Do all Noah people have gray skin?" said Lavi.

"Primarily, yes. The Noah gene turns the skin a gray color, the eyes yellow, and creates a kind of crown of crosses over the forehead. Makes them easily recognizable," said Allen, gesturing to his own head, presumably where the crosses would be. "But because that's so distinctive, they have a defense mechanism. Like the Innocence deactivates, a Noah can deactivate their power, and by doing that they can make the gray and the crown fade, so they look like normal humans."

"Then how the hell are we supposed to-"

A crash caught everyone's attention. Kanda had dropped his plate, only for it to smash on the floor. Luckily there was no syrup to leak into the rug, but it was still a mess.

"What was that for?" said Lavi, sending him a glare, but faltering at the look on the other's face. It was pure shock. Miranda followed his gaze to the TV. The camera had apparently moved across the street, but was still intent on capturing every minute as the police began to lower the corpse down. "Oh no," Lavi muttered. "Oh god no, not Daisya…."

"Daisya? But you said his name was Yeegar," said Allen, confused.

"Yeah, we found Yeegar strung up from a tree on campus. But Daisya wasn't even in the bubble!" said Lavi, slumping against the wall.

"Where is this?" Kanda said sharply.

"Huh? Oh, it's Bell Road…" said Miranda, without thinking. She realized her mistake when he started stalking for the door. "Uh… Kanda… Kanda, where are you going?"

He didn't reply, just kept walking stiffly away. Lavi straightened up to intercept him, saying, "Kanda… hey, don't…" Kanda shoved him aside, knocking the plate out of his hands too. Miranda winced at the noise.

"What's going on?" Lenalee said worriedly.

"I'm going to Bell Road," Kanda snapped.

Allen hurried to block him. He spread his arms a bit and glared up at the other. Kanda tried to step around him, but he just cut him off again.

"Get out of the way," Kanda hissed.

"No. Why are you going to Bell Road?" said Allen.

"To go to Daisya."

"Daisya's dead."

"No _shit_!"

"Going there isn't going to do you or him any good. I don't know who he was to you, but going out there is only going to put you in danger."

"I don't freaking care! Get out of the way!" he snarled, trying to push him out of the way, but Allen shoved him a step back instead.

"No! If any Akuma finds you, you are going to die! Do you hear me? Die!"

"_Get out of the way_!"

"No! I am going to keep you people safe, god damn it!"

"Safe? There's a freaking murderer after us because of you and your shit!"

"And I'm making sure he doesn't get you too!"

At this point they were roaring at each other, pushing and shoving like a pair of sumo wrestlers as they argued. Lenalee stood frozen, and Miranda cowered on the sofa. Lavi looked like he wanted to intervene, but didn't know exactly how to do it. Timcanpy, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do. The golem swooped out from wherever it had been hiding, and snapped at Kanda's ponytail, tugging harshly. Kanda yowled as his head was jerked back, and Allen took advantage of the distraction to knock him over, onto the couch. Miranda scrambled away as he landed. Kanda tried to rise, but in a flash, Allen's transformed arm was pinning him down. Both girls let out squeaks of fright.

"Bastard," Kanda hissed.

"Call me any name you want," said Allen. "You're a real jerk, but I don't want you to die."

Kanda tried to wriggle free. Allen cringed a bit as blood welled up under his claws, but Kanda stopped struggling soon enough. He just lay there, glaring darkly at the ceiling, face twisted in rage. Lavi stepped closer and put a hand gingerly on the silvery arm.

"I… I think it's okay. He freaked, but I think he's done being violent. It's okay, you can let him go," he said softly.

Allen gave him a skeptical look, but loosened his hold. When Kanda failed to move, he deactivated the arm entirely. Lavi moved over to Kanda's head and muttered, "Yu? You going to be okay?" The response was a huff as Kanda rolled off the couch. He stood up and walked briskly away. This time he didn't head for the front door. He walked into the little laundry room and slammed the door shut behind him.

"I don't get it. What's going on?" Lenalee murmured.

"Daisya's his brother," said Lavi, sounding tired.

Miranda whirled around to look at the TV again. She caught glimpses of the corpse- a hooked nose, tousled brown hair… his features didn't look asian at all. Confused, she muttered, "Brother? Really?"

"Adopted, but yeah. They fought all the time, but still, this…" Lavi paused, then mumbled something before going over to the laundry room door.

"Brother," Lenalee whispered hoarsely, eyes wide. "His brother was… Oh no. That's why…. Kanda!" She hurried after Lavi.

Miranda was almost dumbfounded by the sudden emptiness of the room. After a moment, Allen walked over and fell onto the couch beside her. He watched forlornly as Timcanpy began to chew on one of the fallen pancakes.

"Allen? Are you all right?" said Miranda.

"Yeah, but I can understand his feelings. It's always so hard when they take a family member," he replied.

"You've lost one too?" she asked.

"All of them." And his voice sounded so hollow, she wished she hadn't said anything.

She couldn't think of anything to reply with either, so she just sat there stupidly, grasping at anything to say. One second, two seconds, three seconds… and it reached the point where she felt like too much time had passed to properly respond on the topic. So the guilt at being unable to help the situation just built and built. Finally, she picked up Allen's discarded plate and held it out to him. He looked at the cooling pancakes, then up at her in slight confusion, but he seemed to register her uneasiness and took it after a moment's hesitation. He cut the pancakes apart and systematically moved them across the plate, nibbling on a few pieces, but not much. Miranda started eating her own pancakes too. She wasn't really hungry, but it was something to occupy her.

Over by the laundry room door, Lavi and Lenalee were attempting to coax Kanda back out. Miranda couldn't understand what they were saying, but Lenalee sounded nervous and sympathetic, and Lavi sounded much the same, if a little louder and more blunt about it. Kanda's unintelligible backlash, however, showed they were having no luck. They kept at it even as the news changed to a story about a local pub. As the reporter launched into an explanation of the famous 'rose wine' of Mater, Miranda decided to break the silence.

"So, what are we doing today?"

Tact. So much tact.

"We're going to hunt Akuma," said Allen. "The others need real practice, desperately. And if we track the Akuma activity, it should give us clues about the whereabouts of Innocence here."

"The Heart included?" said Miranda.

"Possibly. But it's very likely we won't know which the Heart is, even if we end up with it. For all we know, Lala's Innocence is the Heart."

"Is that true?" said Miranda, looking at Timcanpy. The golem had swallowed the Innocence shard before they left the parking garage the previous day, but it didn't look like it was holding anything important.

"Yeah. I like to think my Innocence would react to the Heart's presence, but Master was very clear when he said the Heart is impossible to identify," said Allen. "We just have to gather as much Innocence as we can in the hope the Heart is among them."

"Easier said than done, I suppose," Miranda mumbled, and Allen cracked a smile.

"No kidding. I hope they learn fast, especially with Tyki around."

"If… If he's here, will the others follow?" said Miranda, prodding at a pancake. "Do they move in groups or something?"

"Tyki's one of the few Noah that tends to operate on his own. Sometimes Road tags along with him, but she's sadistic, we'd have seen evidence on Daisya if she was involved. It's safe to say Tyki's alone this time… after all, it's not like there's much to challenge him here."

Miranda didn't know who 'Road' was, but she didn't like the sound of her. If she was sadistic in comparison to a man who literally ripped people's hearts out, that had to be bad news. Her thoughts were interrupted as Lavi walked back in, choosing to drape himself across the armchair and sigh very loudly.

"Is he doing okay?" said Allen.

"He's probably feeling like crap right now, but I'd be worried if he didn't," said Lavi, letting his head loll to the side so as to better see them in his odd position. "I think he just needs some time to sulk right now, if that's okay."

"It's fine," said Allen, nodding.

"Good. Cause I was gonna let him sulk anyway," Lavi grinned.

Allen chuckled. "So long as he's not going to make a break for Bell Road, I'm good with waiting."

"Great. Say, can we change the channel?"

"S-sure. What did you want to watch?" said Miranda, picking up the remote.

"Saturday morning cartoons, duh. I don't have a TV in my room, so I can't watch them anymore. Sad, huh?" said Lavi.

"Cartoons?" said Allen, confused.

"Ah… you know, animations?" said Miranda, but it was quite clear by the look on his face that he didn't know what she was talking about. With a sigh, she handed the remote over to Lavi, saying, "Go ahead and find something."

"Sweet!" Lavi muttered, and started flipping through channels at the speed of light. He settled on a channel that was running the Looney Tunes, snickering as Bugs Bunny cracked a joke. Allen leaned forward in his seat, eyes wide in wonder.

"What is this? Recorded drawings?"

"You betcha. Animation."

"Amazing…."

They watched the Loony Tunes for a good fifteen minutes before Lenalee poked her head around the corner.

"Uh, Miranda? Where's the bathroom?"

"It's just down the hall," said Miranda, and Lenalee smiled.

"Thanks!"

She disappeared again. Miranda glanced over at the other two (both were very much captivated by the cartoon), and made up her mind. She was going to check on Kanda. Maybe she couldn't do much, but it wouldn't hurt to try. She stood up and set her plate on the table before walking over to the laundry room door. She stepped up to it nervously.

"U-um… Kanda…? Are you all right?" she said, and immediately she felt like banging her head on the wall. His brother was murdered and he was hiding in the laundry room. He was definitely _not_ all right. She scrambled to right her mistake. "Oh, um, I mean, is- is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," he said flatly, and just by the tone, she knew he was glaring daggers at the door.

"Are you sure? I can get you something to drink, or more pancakes if you-"

"I said no!" There was a loud thunk on the door that made her jump back. She wasn't sure if he'd kicked it or kicked something at it. "Stop being so god damn annoying!"

Miranda was hurt and taken aback. She cowered a bit as she stuttered, "I-I'm sorry. I just wanted to help…."

"Well you're not! You don't know me, you don't know my family, so stop pretending you care!"

"I…"

"If you just want to be a waste of space, do it somewhere else, 'bad luck woman'! I'm sick and tired of you creeps already! Just leave me the hell alone!"

"Oi, Yu! Language!" Lavi barked from the living room.

"I don't freaking care anymore! Back off!"

Miranda scuttled away from the door, crossing the living room in a hurry to the entryway. Her shoulders were hunched, braced against whatever else Kanda would throw at her. She paused next to her grandfather clock and focused in on the numbers. If she concentrated on the clock long enough, all she would hear was the ticking, and all she would see or think of was the hands, the pendulum, the numbers. The outside world and insults would vanish; she'd done this before. Very distantly, she heard Lavi scolding Kanda, and footsteps approaching.

"Miranda, are you okay?"

No, she was seeking refuge by the clock. She was not okay.

"I'm fine," she said quietly.

Allen didn't reply, but stood next to her. It was hard to ignore the white hair at the corner of her eye, but his presence was oddly comforting. It was almost like a second clock. Slowly, the tension drained out of her, and she was left feeling strangely empty. Not angry or sad anymore, but not exactly happy, either. The depression was still there, as always.

"All my life I've been a waste of space," she said listlessly. Allen's head moved- she guessed he had turned it to see her better. She imagined a face of slight confusion, silvery brows furrowed. He didn't say anything, and she supposed that meant he was waiting for more. "I've always messed up with everything I try. I've never been of any use to anyone. Can you believe that in all my twenty-six years, no one has ever said 'thank you' to me?" She smiled bitterly and bowed her head. "The people I thought were my friends just laughed at me behind my back. I don't even keep contact with my parents anymore because they're so sick of me and my mistakes. But even when I tell myself I'll stop, I can't help but keep trying. I suppose I'm just a glutton for punishment. I'm just… I'm just a stupid 'bad luck woman' when it comes down to it. I can't do anything right… I'm completely useless…."

Allen made a small strangled noise, as if desperate to interrupt, but he crushed it down. Miranda was glad he did, because she was kind of on a roll, and it actually felt good to tell someone about this.

"It's actually the reason I love this clock so much. I found it in a strip mall on the east side of town. A clock store had bought it from someone and tried to fix it up, but they couldn't get it to work, so they were going to throw it out." She looked up at the clock wistfully, remembering the day vividly. "I'd just been fired from another job when I saw it. It felt like I was looking at myself… a broken old clock nobody could be bothered with. They let me try to wind it up, and it actually worked. It didn't work for anyone else… just me. It was the first time I felt acknowledged. Like something needed me. It was a hassle to get it back here since I don't have a car, but it was worth it. This clock is my most prized possession. It makes me feel like I have some kind of worth in the world."

She reached out and ran her fingers along the hood of the clock, just as the hands hit 9:30. The clock began to chime. The sound seemed almost happy, and it made her smile for real this time.

"We need your help too, you know," said Allen.

"What?" said Miranda, surprised.

"I think you know more about Mater than all of us; not to mention you probably know a lot more about the world," said Allen. "You're the one I made a contract with, and the one who pulled me through. You've given us food and shelter. You've started fighting the Akuma even without Innocence. You haven't run away or backed down, and that's very admirable. Don't say you're useless at all, Miranda, you're very important to all of us here."

Miranda held his gaze for a while, and the gray eyes showed no sign of lying. She rubbed at her own eyes (why did she suddenly feel like crying?) and muttered, "Thank you."

"No problem," he said softly. He tilted his head back toward the living room, and Miranda got the silent message. She led the way back to the sofa and sat down again. Lenalee walked in about the same time, a worried look on her face.

"I thought I heard shouting earlier. What's going on?" she said.

"It's nothing," said Miranda.

"Kanda's being a bastard again. Just let him alone for a bit," said Lavi, resuming his awkward sprawl across the armchair. "Sorry about that, Miranda."

"Really, it's fine," she reassured him.

"I'll punch his lights out if he yells at you again, though!" the redhead said cheerfully.

"Uh…"

"You'll have my help with that," Allen added seriously.

"Boys…" Lenalee muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Girls," Lavi shot back, pointing at her. "Always so much time in the bathroom. What took you so long in there?"

Lenalee colored and turned her nose up, determinedly ignoring him even as he laughed at her reaction. She sat down on Miranda's other side, and leaned in close to whisper, "I'm really, really sorry, but I had to use one of your tampons. I can pay you back or something…."

"It's perfectly fine!" Miranda said quickly.

"What is?" said Lavi, getting interested. "What'd she say?"

"None of your business, Lavi!" Lenalee squeaked.

"Oh, none of that! Is this that girl-talk thing Emilia's always going on about? Because I need the 4-1-1…."

"Seriously, Lavi?"

"Yeah! C'mon, spill the beans!"

"Lavi, respect the lady's wishes," Allen scolded.

"You sound like an old fart," Lavi retorted.

"A what?" he squawked.

"A fart!"

"I am not-"

"You have hair like an old fart," came Kanda's deeper voice, and Miranda was surprised to see him walking past the back of the couch. "Freaking white and everything."

"At least I don't look like a woman," said Allen. "No offense to either of you two…"

"None taken," said Lenalee.

"What did you say, beansprout?" Kanda growled.

"Are you deaf too?" said Allen, eyes narrowing.

Was Miranda alone when she thought they shouldn't be speaking so harshly to him?

With a hiss, Kanda's Innocence sword was in his hand and pointed at Allen's head as he said, "I'll cut off all that old man hair for you and sell it to the old geezers."

"I'm sure they'll pay so much more for yours," Allen scowled.

"Whoa, cool it!" said Lenalee, panicking now that the weapon was out.

"Nah, let them go at it so long as it doesn't get physical," said Lavi.

"Huh?" said Miranda.

"If Kanda came out here on his own he's probably looking for a fight. Let him vent," said Lavi. "Besides, look! The Roadrunner's on!"

Allen and Kanda continued to bicker angrily about shaving each other bald, but the sword made no other movement and Allen's arm didn't change. Miranda supposed that meant well, but she still kept half her attention on them, in case she needed to duck and cover.

* * *

Much as he hated to admit it, Tyki was sometimes in the habit of biting off more than he could chew. This was typically in a non-life-threatening fashion (getting suckered into helping with Road's homework, agreeing to babysit Jasdevi, and attempting to track down the whereabouts of Marian Cross were among these incidents), but they still weren't his cup of tea. And on this occasion? It was more like a cup of coffee than tea. A bitter cup, too.

For a man who'd never used Innocence before, Daisya Barry had been abnormally synched. Usually beginners were around twenty percent synched for their weapons to emerge, but Tyki had to place this one more around fifty. To say he'd been surprised when a patterned bell grew practically ten times its size and started rocketing around on Innocence-propelled flame, well, that would be an understatement. And while it was obvious on Daisya's face that he had no clue what he was doing, his body had reacted immediately and set to attacking with the damn _Charity Bell_. He'd been synched enough to know its name. That was a bad sign.

But despite how synched he was, Tyki was able to dispatch him without too much trouble. The fight had rattled him, though. The ringing of the Charity Bell was still tinkling in his ears, and he had quickly come to the conclusion that Daisya wasn't alone. No, he'd had training from someone, in all likelihood, a general. But as an apprentice, he would've known if his general had rigged the town to rewind. That meant there was a second shard of Innocence at general-level around here. Also a bad sign.

Snooping around a bit longer, with various reports from Akuma, he tracked down one of the people on his list. General Kevin Yeegar was on a school campus (not all too surprising- he'd been a teacher even during his time on the Ark). He was much older, much grayer than in the picture Tyki had seen, so he'd been a little cocky. As it turned out, old men were tougher than they looked. His stupidity got him injured. After that he'd flipped out and (though it was with great difficulty) managed to kill the general. He hung Yeegar up in a tree on the campus to strike fear into his students.

That was two pieces of Innocence destroyed now, and the dome was still up.

Tyki stumbled among the early morning shoppers in downtown, one hand pressed to his stinging side. Yeegar's Innocence had hit him there- not accurate enough to be deadly, but it had shorn off the skin and a good chunk of his shirt, leaving the area bloody. It had scabbed over now, but it was still very much tender and the right amount of force could easily open it again. Not to mention it burned like hell. It always took far too long to recover from Innocence attacks.

People were giving him strange looks, and Tyki knew he was going to have to lay low until he built up his strength again. And he needed a new shirt. Now if only he could find a poker parlor, that would be perfect…

He spotted a sign for a casino and made a beeline for it, but as he did, he noticed something flickering at the edge of his senses. He stopped and pursed his lips, trying to pinpoint what it was. Innocence. Perhaps twenty-five, thirty percent synchronized. Certainly not a general. Now that he knew what it was and which direction it was coming from, he looked around with his eyes. The sidewalk was fairly busy, and people passed by him with curious glances at his side, but only one person kept their gaze on him.

It was a little girl, couldn't be more than ten years old, with mousy hair and big brown eyes. She held something tight in her right hand, and she was staring at him with worry written all over her face. Tyki stared right back, thinking quickly. If she was an accommodator, he needed to get rid of her. On the other hand, he was still injured from his last two encounters, and he had no idea what her Innocence could do. One never knew what to expect from a damned God Crystal, and even when it wasn't too synchronized, it could still pack a nasty punch. Best bet would be to set an Akuma to trail her and go after the Innocence once he'd recovered. Of course, that plan flew out the window as the girl broke into a jog. Tyki straightened up, hand not leaving his side, but striking a daunting figure nonetheless. He felt his forehead prickle as his Noah coloring itched to come back, to eclipse the 'white' side he'd reverted to, but he kept it back as the girl stopped in front of him.

"Y-You were attacked, weren't you?" she said. Tyki raised an eyebrow, and she continued, "I-I saw… um…" She squirmed a little bit. "You know about the rewinding, right?"

"Yes…" Tyki said slowly.

"Ever since it started, I've been seeing things. Things from the future. I don't really understand it, but the visions are never wrong. And I saw you being attacked."

"Did you now?" said Tyki. The Noah inside was clawing about, not for self preservation this time, but to kill her. Shatter the Innocence. It was rather stupid of her to give away her ability like that to a total stranger. Easy prey. He could take care of this one easily. Best to investigate a little more, though, just in case… "I don't think I believe you." He made as if to walk around her, but her free hand flew out to grab his sleeve.

"It's true! The thing that hurt you, it was a chain, wasn't it?" she said, desperation in her voice. Tyki paused, and she took that as a sign to go on. "The vision wasn't very long, but I saw it. You were fighting with glowing butterflies," _Teez_, "and a man in black," _Yeegar_, "tried to kill you with chains. They touched your side, and it burned." _The injury_. "You screamed…." Her voice drifted off, and she looked down from his face to his side, at the bloodstained fabric. She sniffed loudly, like she was trying to keep from crying.

So she thought he was a butterfly-man who got his ass kicked and cried like a baby. That was flattering. It spoke volumes of vulnerability, but in this case, it was his advantage. Doubtless her Innocence had shown him fighting a general to warn her of the danger, but that vulnerability had framed him as the victim rather than the villain. He fought to keep the smile off his face as he knelt down, so their eyes were level.

"You really had a vision of that?" he said quietly.

"Yeah. You… you're like me, aren't you? Nobody else notices it's the same day. Nobody else is able to weird things like this."

_No, I'm not_.

"I suppose I must be."

"Do you know what's going on?"

"No, not really. What other visions have you seen? Maybe they might have a clue."

The girl scrunched up her face as she tried to remember, leaning a little closer now that she felt she'd somewhat gained his approval. Sign of trust. Good.

"There was… a girl. She had really short dark hair, and she was flying, with green fire at her feet, and it was nighttime. I didn't see anything beyond that. In another one, there was a big white demon with claws, and a huge butterfly with rainbow wings!" she spread her arms to emphasize it, and he wondered if she meant a Teez. He'd never seen a giant rainbow one before, "And then another with a woman that had really dark eyes, she looked surprised, and it was snowing… Beyond that, it's just normal. I see little things that are going to happen, so I don't bump into anybody and I can avoid the monsters!" Well if she could slip away from Akuma like that, no wonder he hadn't gotten a report on her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Mei-Ling. What's yours?" she said, smiling.

"Name's Tyki."

"Tyki? That's a funny name!" Mei-Ling giggled. Tyki chuckled with her for a moment.

"All right, Mei-Ling, why don't we stick together? If there are really monsters out there, we'll be safer as a group," he said.

"Sure!" she chirped. "I'm glad I found someone like me!"

_I'd rather rip out my own throat than be like you._

"I'm glad too," said Tyki, straightening up. He held out the hand that wasn't bloody, and she took it eagerly. "Come on, let's go. I need to get this injury treated…"

"Oh. Does it hurt badly? It does, doesn't it?" she said, as he steered her off the sidewalk, into a small bookstore with many shelves. "Um… why the bookstore?"

"I know someone in here, he can help us," said Tyki.

Mei-Ling didn't question him any further. There was a rustling sound from the back, where an old man was rearranging books. A young blond girl beside him looked up, directly at Tyki, and he recognized her as an Akuma. His gaze flicked to the old man and back to her, and she nodded to show she got the message.

"Oh, sir, did you hear that? I think something fell over in the back," she said, and she sounded genuine enough to be an actual person. That meant she had to be at least level two, a competent servant.

"Did it? I suppose you can hear these things better than me," said the old man, climbing down from his ladder and shuffling toward the back. "I'll go see what happened."

"I'll help!"

"No, you should stay out here with the customers. Who knows if they need help-"

Their voices were cut off by the click of a door, and it was silent in the store. Tyki nudged Mei-Ling into one of the aisles, out of sight of the large windows. She looked up at him in confusion.

"Wasn't that man your friend? I thought he was the one who was supposed to help," she said.

"Nope," said Tyki.

There was a small flash of light from her clenched fist, and Mei-Ling's eyes glazed over. It was a second at most, and then her eyes cleared. Something had dawned on her, and now she looked horrified.

"You… you…."

Aha, so the Innocence had sent her another vision. Tyki had no doubt what she'd seen. Of course, that Innocence was too late. He let a smirk creep over his face, and felt what was almost a head rush as his skin darkened, the distinctive crown of crosses appearing on his forehead. He took a step forward as she stumbled back, cowering.

"Teez," he purred.

From out of the shelves came a flurry of the glowing butterflies, swirling about with a sound like scraping metal as they billowed around the two. Mei-Ling shrieked as the wings closed in, and Tyki couldn't resist a snicker.

Three down.

* * *

"So it's not that time has actually stopped," Allen muttered.

"What?" said Lenalee, not taking her eyes off the road.

Miranda, on the other hand, twisted in her seat to get a better look at him. Allen was sitting in the middle of the backseat, lap belt on but shoulder strap missing. He was staring down at the floor, brows furrowed in concentration. He seemed lost in thought, so Miranda cleared her throat quietly. He looked up in surprise.

"Oh! I'm sorry, what?" he said.

"What do you mean, time hasn't stopped?" said Miranda.

"I was just thinking aloud," Allen muttered, a red tinge lighting his face.

"You can tell us anyway," said Lenalee, "it might help if you bounce ideas off someone."

Allen squirmed a bit, then blurted, "Your period."

The car braked a bit more sharply than usual at the stoplights. Lenalee looked mortified, but squeaked out, "Uh, yeah. What about it?"

"Well, you didn't have it the last few days during the rewind, did you?" said Allen. A bit of the horror drained out of Lenalee's face, replaced by confusion.

"No, no I didn't."

Miranda frowned, trying to figure out the connection. "But everything is supposed to repeat. Does it have anything to do with her Innocence? Did it make her immune or something?"

"No, she was immune before. I think it's the Innocence that created this mess," said Allen, leaning forward. "It's being selective. It has limits. I think time hasn't really stopped. We're still getting older. Maybe it affects the place, but not the people."

"But no one remembers. That's affecting people," said Miranda.

"Physically," said Allen.

In response, Miranda held up her hands. The skinned areas from her falls in the parking garage were gone, as if they were never there.

"That's not exactly what I meant," said Allen.

"Then what did you mean? I'm lost," said Lenalee.

"I don't think the rewind affects our growth," said Allen.

"Our growth?"

"Yeah. Look at it this way- if it really was actually rewinding without a flaw and resetting properly, it would send everything back to the way it was. No Akuma, no me. But that's not what's happening. It sends us all back to the places we were and no one remembers, but the Akuma are still here. I'm still here. We weren't in the beginning, because the rewinding is what drew us here. And the Akuma are growing without being reset. More people are dying and not coming back. Your Innocence has stayed an anti-Akuma weapon, rather than being sent back into your blood. Even if our minds are affected, the body is still the way it would be if the rewinding wasn't happening. The phenomenon is repairing damage, but it can't hold us back physically."

"I don't really get it…" said Miranda.

"Yeah, it's hard to follow. Why are you so hung up on it, anyway?" said Lenalee.

"Because it's an advantage and disadvantage. If it can't affect us physically, it won't stop you from your training; you'll be able to develop body memory, synch rate, and get stronger without your progress being taken away. But the Akuma can do the same, to more disastrous consequences."

"So… our timestream is still moving or something?" said Miranda.

"I don't know. I'm no scientist. I don't know anything about time travel," said Allen, shrugging. "I'm just pointing out the limits. What limits I see, anyway."

Miranda hadn't even thought about the limitations of the Innocence phenomenon, but now that it was brought up, it was a good idea to investigate. The limitations might give them clues on the source, after all. If Allen was really part of an underground rebellion, thinking like that was probably vital for survival. Again, she was glad to have him around.

Abruptly, the iris of Allen's left eye shrank into nothing, white sclera swallowed by black with vivid red rings. His face turned grim.

"Found some. A pair of level twos."

"Which way?" said Lenalee.

"Left," he muttered, and Lenalee flipped on her turn signal.

Miranda rolled down the window and waved. There was a dark blue car just behind them, and its passenger side window rolled down as well, low enough for Lavi to stick his head and shoulders out to wave back. Miranda settled back into her seat and sighed.

They'd all come to the conclusion that morning that tracking down and fighting Akuma was their best bet. It allowed practice, gained info, and got rid of enemies in one fell swoop. Allen lamented the fact that there were mainly level twos, confessing that at the beginning he'd had a lot of trouble with just the level ones, but Lavi had laughed it off, claiming that there were three beginners and an expert on the job this time, so they must be guaranteed to bring it down. Miranda was unhappy to note that Allen hadn't looked too reassured by that argument. In any case, they went out to look for Akuma. Allen's eye could only pinpoint them at a certain distance, so they'd opted to drive around until he spotted one, and now that he had, it was time to hunt it down.

Timcanpy's tail wriggled out of Allen's sleeve as Kanda's voice came over the communicators.

"You found one, then?"

"Two of them. By the looks of it they're working together," said Allen.

"The more the merrier," said Lavi, in what Miranda was sure was false bravado.

"Just remember, level twos are dangerous and unpredictable. They each have a different ability that could easily be your downfall, so be very cautious at all times. And don't let them shoot you. If you get shot, their virus spreads through your blood and kills you in less than a minute," said Allen.

"Pleasant," Lenalee mumbled.

"And if your Innocence is telling you to do something, do it. It's much more aware of the Akuma and its abilities than you are, and it could save your life," said Allen.

"Instincts, right?" said Lavi.

"Yeah, listen to them."

"Right. Let us know when you've found the Akuma."

"Will do."

Silence fell in the car again, save for the occasional "take a right," and "which way now?" Miranda closed her eyes for a moment. She could remember the broker, his skin dotted with stars, and imagined him crumbling into dust. She wondered if it was a painful death. Probably, since one had to get shot first, and your entire being was falling apart at the end… How many people had Allen seen die like that? She really hoped she wouldn't be one of them.

The cars wound through sidestreets and into a residential area, one of the older parts of the city, where the large old houses were lined up together beneath tall trees. In the summer those trees were filled with leaves, casting a cool shadow across the neighborhoods and creating a kind of cozy natural tunnel along the road. Now, on what was supposed to be the 30th of November, the leaves were gone, the branches twisted in grotesque, clawlike shapes, and the entire place seemed covered in gloom. It made Miranda shiver. Slowly, they drove up to another park. This one wasn't Falls Park by a long shot. It was a long stretch of grass with a playground at one end and tennis courts at the other. The place was deserted, as were the surrounding houses.

"They're here," said Allen.

"Where?" said Lenalee.

"Playground," said Allen.

Lenalee parked and shut off the car, looking as if she were fighting down nervousness. Kanda's car came to a stop behind hers, and he and Lavi stepped out, looking warily over at the park. Allen struggled with the seatbelt for a moment before clambering out as well, Timcanpy taking flight to hover about his ears as he did. Miranda leaned over to Lenalee and whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Fine, just a little scared," she replied, slapping on a big smile.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure as I'll ever be. Come on, let's go before the boys go on without us," said Lenalee.

They climbed out, and the car locked with a loud click that almost seemed to echo in the silence. For a little while, all five of them just stood there, staring at the playground.

"I don't see anything," Lavi muttered.

"They're wearing human skins right now, most likely. Makes it easier for them to hide," said Allen. "They're here all right."

He strode forward, and the others followed a step behind. Miranda wanted to walk beside him, but stayed at the back of the group instead. Curse her cowardice. He walked up to the playground and barked, "Hey! Come out!"

There was a small, barely audible giggle, and a head appeared around one of the plastic walls. It was a little girl, with blond hair done up in short pigtails. She would've looked adorable, if not for the sinister smile on her face.

"Helloooooo! What do you want?" she said mockingly.

"_Both_ of you, get out here," said Allen.

Another girl made an entrance from the covered slide, this one a brunette who swung her legs back and forth above the dirt, the same wicked smile pasted on her features as she said, "Do you want to play with us, old man?"

"We're not supposed to talk to strangers!" said the blonde. "Mom says it's bad!"

"Oh? Then we can't play with you, old man. Rules are rules."

"We have to go home, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do!"

"I can see you," Allen hissed, the red in his eye glowing still brighter.

If anything, the girls' smiles widened.

"Can you? Then I suppose there's no use pretending anymore."

"We suck at acting anyway!"

Their faces bulged. Miranda let out a horrified squeak, and Lavi and Lenalee took a step back. Kanda stood firm, but his eyes had widened and his muscles tensed. With a sickening pop, the girls ripped open and out came a rush of machinery but _how the hell did those Akuma fit in there when they were that big_? From the base they were very similar- thick round forms supported by thin legs that looked like a spider's, and from it rose what looked like the armless torso of a woman. But from the 'neck' up, they were completely different. One was like a triangle, with strange arms that looked an awful lot like the legs protruding from the sides. Four pairs of big red eyes stared down at them from above a mouth filled with jagged teeth, a grim smile in contrast to the tortured white mask at the top. The other Akuma had a 'body' in the shape of a football, with its own mask in the center. Its arms looked like those of a scorpion, with enormous pincers at the end. It had a thick tail that arched over the body, and it was on the end of that where they could see its ugly face. Both were easily as tall as Miranda's house.

"Greetings, accommodator!" said the scorpion.

"Prepare yourself!" giggled the spider.

Allen took a step back, arm transforming as he cried, "Get ready!"

"Innocence, activate!"

Three separate winks of light announced the activated weapons. Kanda slid the 'sheath' off his sword with his fingers, Lenalee's boots snaked up her legs, and Lavi twirled his hammer above his head while it grew to the size of a door. The redhead glanced over his shoulder and said, "Might want to back up, Miranda! This could get messy." She did so immediately, and neither of the Akuma paid her much mind.

"Oh, they think they stand a chance!" the spider laughed.

"How cute. Sorry, but we're going to have to break your bubble!" said the scorpion. It swung down one of its pincers, the sharp tip aimed at Allen's head. He caught it with his left arm and held it back, but the force behind the blow wasn't all of it, because the scorpion was leaning into it, putting all its weight behind the claw. Allen's knees were bending under the pressure, and the ground below him cracked and buckled.

Lenalee jumped forward with a shout, taking off with a blaze of green. Her flightpath wavered, but she managed to get up to the Akuma's main body and kick. At best she skimmed its side, but it still shrieked and sidestepped. A long gouge had opened up along its side, about the width of Lenalee's foot. With the distraction, Allen shoved the claw to the side and shouted, "Lavi, Kanda!"

"On it!" said Lavi, charging forward. He took a flying leap and swung the hammer over his head, shouting, "Grow, grow, grow!" It ballooned to the size of the damn tennis court before he brought it down. The scorpion scuttled out of the way just in time, and the spider lifted itself higher on its spindly legs.

"Don't get too cocky!" it cried.

What looked like webs shot out of its limbs, catching Lavi by the ankle and yanking him off his feet. Kanda avoided the web easily and swung his sword into its leg. The cut was clean, and the Akuma stumbled, dragging Lavi along on the ground with it. It began what looked like a strange tap-dance, trying to step on Kanda as the young man weaved back and forth. Allen would've run over to help, but he was a bit preoccupied with the scorpion, which was still trying to pulverize him despite Lenalee zipping around its head. He hopped to the side to avoid the pincers, but it took him further away from the others, which proved to be a bad move. The scorpion's main body split open, revealing what looked like two huge vents. From out of the slits came hundreds of snakelike creatures, with metal heads and bulbous eyes, wide mouths lined with sharp teeth. They soared over as the spider jumped, mouths gaping. Lavi thrashed madly in the attempt to free himself while Kanda spun to see what was attacking. He brandished his sword and yelled, "Mugen, summon misfortune! Netherworld Creature Ichigen!"

The blade shone, and then, in a chorus of shrieking wails, a horde of monsters broke loose from the metal. They were hideous. Like skeletal eels with gaping maws, teeth on the bottom jaw and a long nasty looking horn for a nose, another horn jutting back over their heads. Seven pairs of round, blazing red eyes were grouped on the sides of their heads. Four spindly legs were curled up beneath them towards the front of the body, the rest comprised of their long tails. Each one was longer than Kanda was tall. As one, they surged toward the snakes, ripping through them as if they were nothing but tissue paper. The Akuma ducked away, and the eels scattered. A few went speeding off along the houses. One knocked Lenalee off kilter, and still another charged after Lavi. He managed to twist away so its jaws caught the web rather than his leg, and fell to the ground in a heap. Two of them circled Kanda, screeching and lashing their tails. He moved in place, sword raised, as he tried to keep their eyes in his sight at all times.

"What the hell?" cried Lavi, scrambling away from the spider's leg, only to be blocked off by an eel. "Are these more Akuma?"

"Can't be! They came out of Kanda's sword, so they have to be Innocence-based!" said Allen.

"Then why are they attacking us?"

"I don't think Kanda knows how to control them yet! These are probably part of his second stage!"

"What's a second stage?" said Lavi.

"A stronger, typically long distance attack. Mine's Cross Grave, obviously this one's 'Netherworld Ichigen,'" said Allen, narrowly dodging the Akuma's attack. "Kanda, just get it to listen to you!"

"No shit!" Kanda snapped, and he had to jump away as one of them lunged at him. He brought his sword down on its tail, and with a shriek, it vanished into blue smoke. He pointed the blade at the remaining creature and snarled, "Listen here, you little freak, you are mine! You will obey me, you hear?" The thing hissed and charged. Kanda swung his sword through it as well, and again, it burst into blue smoke. This time, however, the others vanished with it.

"Sending away your little soldiers? Bad idea!" said the spider.

It took advantage of his distraction and caught him with the web, pinning the sword to his side and flinging him up into the air.

"Kanda!" shouted Lavi, and he dug the spike of the hammer into the ground. "Don't worry, buddy, I'm coming for ya!" And the handle grew. The rest stayed the same, but Lavi clung to the end and it shot him up into the air. Unfortunately for him, the other Akuma spotted this and swatted at him. It hit the handle, the spike uprooted from the ground, and Lavi yelped as he toppled over.

"Forgetting something?" said Allen, swiping at the scorpion. Its lower body gained four long slices, even as it twisted away.

"Filthy Innocence!" it squealed.

Its tail and arms retreated into the main body, and with a hop, its legs sprang together and spun, drilling it down into the ground. The entire Akuma vanished in no time.

"Holy hell," said Lavi, obviously stunned.

"Be careful, it could come up anywhere!" said Allen.

"Are you forgetting something?" Kanda roared, from his place spinning around the other Akuma's head.

"I've got him!" said Lenalee, angling herself and kicking off again. She flew over, only to have him slam into her. She kept a grip on him and kicked wildly at the web.

"Miranda!" said Allen, "come over here!"

Of course, on her own she was a sitting duck, wasn't she? The thought scared her into action, and she made to move, but her feet stayed rooted to the spot. Puzzled, she looked down. There didn't seem to be anything wrong. She tried again, but the soles of her shoes just didn't want to move. She started to panic.

"Allen! Allen, I can't-"

She ended in a scream as the scorpion Akuma erupted from the street to her right.

"Miranda!"

"Hold on!"

Lavi's hammer swooped down again, but the Akuma saw it coming and drilled right back underground. The hammer hit the ground instead, creating a crater in its wake. Something creaked and groaned out of sight, and water began to gurgle up. Miranda hoped that wasn't a broken water main. The Akuma came up on the other side of the park, and Lavi tried to hit it again, only to miss at the last second. It kept popping up again and again, and it looked like a giant game of Whac-a-Mole, just like everyone had been complaining about before. And Miranda realized with dread that it was either forcing or luring everyone further away from her.

"Allen!" she called again.

There was a laugh behind her, and a shudder ran down her spine as she slowly turned her head. The spider Akuma stood there, grinning wickedly.

"I see someone's walked into my little trap! You see, my special ability is something I like to call _Hidden Web_- I make the threads completely invisible, so I can snare and kill my prey by stretching and adjusting the thread. Akuma abilities are so useful, don't you think?"

At its words, the threads became visible- like a glowing pink spiderweb, covering the ground from the sidewalk to the playground. Miranda shook like a leaf, and a distant, very distant, part of her brain wondered how the Akuma had managed to get rid of Kanda and Lenalee. The Akuma smirked.

"Say goodbye to your little friend, accommodators."

A noise prompted Miranda to look to the front again. The scorpion Akuma had resurfaced, and its body had opened up again, exposing the vents. With a thunderous sound, something shot out at her. This time it wasn't strange snakes, it was a volley of sharp cylindrical objects. Akuma bullets. Unable to do anything else, Miranda closed her eyes and held her arms over her face, bracing herself for the pain.

The bullets made impact with a sickening sound, some driving themselves deep while others whistled past on either side, thudding into the ground behind her. But oddly enough, it didn't feel like she'd been shot at all. It felt more like…. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up. Allen was standing in front of her, stance rigid. His arm was bent to better shield her, to catch what his body couldn't block. His coat was riddled with holes and rapidly going darker with blood.

"Allen?" she whispered.

Allen wavered, and his legs gave out. Miranda caught him and knelt down, forgetting about the Hidden Web as she tried to support him. There was blood on his face too, and to her growing horror, there were little black spots appearing on his skin. No, not spots, stars. It was the virus. His eyes were going out of focus, but they fluttered and he mumbled, "I'm… okay…"

"P-please… don't die… Allen, please don't die…."

Her pleading didn't stop the spread of the stars, and she held him tightly, shaking badly. He said something else, but it was too garbled to understand. The two Akuma cackled.

"Aw, look at that!"

"It makes me feel sick!"

"Bastards!" Lavi shouted, and his hammer finally caught one of them. The spider staggered back as it gained a new dent in its face, and had no time to recover before Lenalee came out of nowhere, plunging a foot into one of its eyes. The following wail was so loud it hurt.

A movement caught Miranda's eye. Allen had lifted up his arm and brought it down, hard, on the ground. The earth shook and broke under the force, and the threads of the Hidden Web snapped with it. Finally free, Miranda heaved him up and began to back away.

"Oh no, you've ruined it!" said the spider.

"Kanda, now!"

Kanda darted forward faster than a human should've been able to move, and jumped up. He slashed across the torso piece of the Akuma. His sword passed through it like it was nothing but butter, and the top half slid off. He sprinted back and Lenalee flipped away, just before the monster exploded. The other Akuma went back underground. The three others gathered around Miranda, keeping their backs to her, but glancing worriedly over their shoulders. By this time, Allen's skin was black as coal.

"Is that the virus thing?" said Lavi. At Miranda's nod, he swore under his breath. "Just our luck, the one guy who knows what he's doing gets taken out first…."

"Isn't there any cure?" Lenalee asked.

"I don't know!" Miranda sobbed.

"Hey, snap out of it! That Akuma's coming for us, pay attention! It's the beansprout's own damn fault he's dead," said Kanda.

"Harsh, Yu…"

There was a flash of light, and Miranda looked down in surprise. The cross on the back of Allen's hand was blazing green, and his left eye and scar glowed bright red. The blackness on his skin was draining rapidly, as if it was all being sucked into his scar, and soon it had all been swallowed up. He smiled up at her as if nothing had happened.

"Sorry about that. Got a little dizzy."

"D-dizzy… what?" Miranda stuttered.

"Holy crap you're still alive!" said Lavi.

"Should've done us a favor and stayed dead," Kanda grumbled, earning himself a jab in the side courtesy of Lavi's weapon.

"Real funny. Just focus on the Akuma," said Allen, sitting up.

"Sure thing," said Lavi, turning back to the park. His eye went out of focus for a minute, and Miranda almost thought he'd contracted the virus too somehow, but it cleared up quickly. "It could be a little hardcore, but if the Innocence says so, you told us to listen…"

Miranda was clueless as he held the hammer off to the side. Lenalee and Kanda leapt away in surprise as a ring of glowing symbols sprung up around him. There appeared to be ten circular symbols, most of them bearing questionmarks, but one had a symbol she couldn't understand. Kanda could read it, though, if his muttered, "Fire?" was anything to go by. The symbols spun around him as he raised the hammer and cried, "Devouring Flame!" He smacked it into the one with the fire symbol, and red light seared across Miranda's vision.

"Fire Stamp!"

Fire roared, much too red and much too bright to be normal flame, spreading quickly over the grass and blazing down the holes the Akuma had made. They heard a scream, and the fire came back up from a hole by the tennis courts, bearing the Akuma with it. For a short time it flickered, barely discernible, but it broke down and vanished, consumed by the inferno. Once it was gone, the fire faded away into nothing.

"Not too bad," said Allen.

"Ya think?" said Lavi, resting the hammer on his shoulder and turning to look at him (Lenalee had to duck to avoid it).

"Yeah, not bad at all. All the Akuma are destroyed, and we didn't lose a single member!"

"You say that like it's really impressive," Lavi observed.

"Well it is," Allen said brightly.

"Wow… that's kinda dark…."

Allen chuckled as he stood up. He reached out his normal hand for Miranda, and she stared at it dumbly.

"I… I don't understand," she said. "The virus…."

"My Innocence is parasitic. Since it's inside my body, it can purify the virus if I get infected. They can slow me down, but those bullets won't kill me," he said softly.

"So you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little bloody, but fine."

Miranda missed his hand altogether and jumped up, throwing her arms around him and sobbing into his shoulder.

"I-I-I thought you were d-dying!" she wailed.

"It's okay, Miranda, I just told you, I'll be fine…."

"Never do that again!"

"D-don't worry, I won't."

"Dawww," said Lavi.

"Oh shut up, you were worried too," said Lenalee, but she had a smile on her face.

"If the Innocence protects us, why did you say we'd die?" said Kanda, stealing the attention.

"Good point, actually," said Lavi, glancing over at Allen again. "Why were you worried about that? I mean yeah, it looks real painful, but if the virus thing doesn't affect us…."

"I think it would affect you, though," said Allen. "The big difference between us is the form of our Innocence." Miranda let go of him and took a step back so it was easier for him to talk. The others needed to hear this, and she was curious too. "Crowned Clown is a part of my body. Its power might mainly be in my arm, but it influences the rest of me as well. If the Akuma virus or Dark Matter gets into my body, the Innocence already has a strong presence there, and while it may take a heavy hit at first, it retaliates quickly. Your anti-Akuma weapons are formed out of your blood, but they've taken that blood out of you. It's no longer in your body, so it can't affect what happens in your bloodstream. It might be able to diminish damage, help you heal a little faster, but that's just speeding up what your body can already do. It's an isolated weapon."

"So long story short, even with Innocence, we're still vulnerable to that virus, even if you aren't," said Lavi.

"Bingo!"

They all jumped and whirled around at the voice. Miranda cowered next to Allen as the others raised their weapons.

"Who's there?" Kanda barked.

"Gee, Allen, found a rude one, huh?"

"Is that…?" Allen muttered, lowering his arm.

From the direction of the cars came three more people. The smallest of their number was a little boy with bright blue hair, brown eyes, and what looked like a round blue gem stuck in the middle of his forehead. Beside him walked a man with blond hair tied back in a braid, red eyes, some rather interesting eyebrows, and two moles on his own forehead. The last was the tallest, a slim young man with dark hair and a scarred face. He smiled widely at them.

"Hey Allen, long time no see!"

Miranda looked at Allen in curiosity. Lavi was gaping like a fish out of water, Lenalee whispering into his ear, and Kanda looked completely dumbfounded. Allen just laughed.

* * *

I am so sorry for taking so long to update this thing. Real life came and slapped me in the face so I wan't able to write for a while, and I take too long to write in the first place. Again, I am so so sorry!

Notes for this chapter:

1. It's surprisingly difficult to write without any of the characters saying 'thank you' to Miranda. It's used so often in conversation, sometimes I don't even realize I've written it until I reread this stuff and think, 'wait! No! I can't do that!'

2. Please don't ask me why Allen and Miranda were singing. My brain just couldn't get around it.

3. I apologize to any of you who weren't comfortable with the mention of a period. I wanted to use it as a plot device, nothing more.

4. I wonder if anyone could tell who the two men in the dream were. Kudos to you if you figured it out!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, it really makes my day. :)


	8. To Hell in a Handbasket

Kanda thought his childhood kinda sucked. More than kinda, actually. Maybe it had to do with the fact that his dad swore constantly and had this strange fascination with gambling, and his mom was never satisfied with _anything_. She thought his dad was a lazy bastard wasting her hard earned money, and his dad thought she was a nitpicking bimbo. These problems often turned into loud shouting matches over the dinner table, and Kanda would just sit there in the middle like a row boat stuck out on a stormy sea. With all the obscenities flying around, it was only natural they entered his vocabulary, and when he tried to throw them into the 'conversation,' well… they'd lock him in the closet for a while.

This treatment didn't sit well with him, of course. Rather than subduing him, it just made him angry and more rebellious. He took his anger out on other things- kicking a soccer ball as hard as he could, calling other kids names, getting into fights- anything that made him feel a bit stronger, a bit higher above the others. It didn't win him any popularity. He didn't have any friends.

When he was nine years old, though, he had an _imaginary_ friend.

He'd come in from a rainy day at the playground to sulk indoors, and just for spite, he'd looked in the hallway mirror and called his reflection a bad name. He was stunned when his reflection shifted, no longer his own, but the visage of a completely different person. It was a cartoony, pale person, about his height and probably same age. He had a mop of spiky black hair on his head, with big hollow pits of the same color for eyes, and a scar across the bridge of his nose. He was wearing some weird long sleeved white vest thing that left most of his chest bare, and black shorts. His entire form seemed to shake, strange scribbly lines dancing needlessly around him.

He said his name was Alma. He said he was there because Kanda was looking for the same thing he was: a friend. Kanda called that bull crap, but Alma just laughed at him and said, "No, really! If it weren't true, you wouldn't be able to see me! This is our connection, get it?"

But no, Kanda did not 'get it,' and to this day he still didn't. He just knew that Alma started following him places, making faces from the where his reflection was supposed to be. He talked a lot too, mostly random nonsense. Kanda kept insisting that he leave, but over time his arguments got weaker and weaker, to the point where he just put up with it. Not to say they didn't trade insults at all, because they did that nearly every day, and if Kanda could touch the guy, he would've given him black eyes and broken bones. The constant droning was better than silence or his parents' arguments, though. Alma was eager to please, and easily entertained as well. Yeah, Kanda was still a rude little brat, but he didn't go out of his way to try pushing the other away anymore. Alma stuck with him through everything, even the closet and school. After a few months, he could even make Kanda laugh.

Needless to say, his teacher was worried when she realized that Kanda preferred to carry on a conversation with his own reflection rather than play with his classmates. It was when one of the older students began to call him 'Narcissus' that she decided it was time to do something about it. She called in his parents and tried a four-way (five if one counted Alma) discussion about the problem. It didn't end well. She said nine years old was big enough that he didn't need an imaginary friend anymore. Kanda disagreed, loudly, and told her Alma called her something rather nasty (to which Alma squealed about how he'd never say anything so mean to somebody, and Kanda snapped that he was a pansy). His dad freaked out about where he'd learned such language (pot. kettle. black), and his mom freaked about how her grown son was still so slow in the head that he needed a freaking imaginary friend. His parents then proceeded to blame each other for their failure of a son, while the teacher looked on in shock, and Alma kept interjecting how both his parents were meanies and 'golem-brained,' whatever the hell that meant.

When they got home that night, his dad stalked away upstairs, and his mother explained to him in detail exactly why he was such a stupid good-for-nothing before shoving him in the closet again. By that point Kanda had worked himself into a near frenzy, and when Alma popped up in the compact mirror on the floor, he threw a fit. He drew every single scrap of ire in his body and threw it at him. He called him names, said it was all Alma's fault it was like this, and hell with this, he didn't need an imaginary friend anyway. He shrieked at Alma to go away.

Alma made a strangled sound of alarm before he vanished from the mirror, leaving Kanda's reflection there for the first time in almost a year. He didn't come back.

Kanda told himself it was fine. Imaginary friends left all the time. But without that laughter behind him, or the chattering about mayonnaise, or any other Alma-related occurrences, it felt terribly lonely. Before Alma came he was angry, but it didn't bother him so much; now that he knew what it was like to have a friend, being alone made him feel antsy and vulnerable. He tried to reach out to his classmates and the kids on the playground, but he wasn't skilled at forging friendships (Alma had done all the work and just stuck to him like a burr until he warmed up to him), and they already knew his personality, so none of them were interested in associating with him. It hurt.

About two weeks after Alma left, Kanda went up to the hallway mirror and called his reflection names, in the hope that the other boy would appear like he had before. When that didn't work, he sat there and gave that mirror the longest, most sincere apology he'd ever give in his life.

But Alma never came back. And that hurt worse.

He started telling himself the things adults had been telling him the whole time. Alma wasn't real. Alma was just an imaginary friend, and he'd outgrown the need for one. It was stupid of him to have thought Alma existed. He had no friends.

And that birthday present that tumbled out of the bathroom mirror? It was a prank from his dad. Even if the beat-up volleyball had 'Alma' scrawled onto it in childish handwriting. Just a prank.

A little before Kanda turned eleven, his parents had a falling out. They divorced, and neither one of them was interested in taking custody of him. Instead, he was sent to Froi Tiedoll, a friend of his late grandmother. He'd known the name for a while- Grandma Kanda had one of his paintings hanging in the front hall until she died, and Kanda had always been fascinated by the loopy signature. He was expecting some stuffy artist who was too busy painting to take care of him, so he got quite the shock when the bushy-haired, overly affectionate man came to pick him up. Adjusting to the Tiedoll house was hard. He likened all the members to Alma in some way. Tiedoll was like Alma, only old and weepy and touchy-feely and generally more creepy. Marie was like Alma, only more quiet and respectful of privacy. Daisya was like Alma, just more mischievous and mean about it. It was all like Alma, but not quite, and it made him really miss the guy. He hated himself for driving him away.

When Alma was the person he measured everyone against, it was hard to forget about him; in fact, downright impossible.

So now, seeing that 'imaginary friend' standing in front of him again, solid and real and jabbering in that same way, it brought a lot of conflicting feelings to the surface. It might've been better if Alma looked different, if there was some sort of evidence of the time. But while Alma was much taller, he just looked like a real version of the cartoon all those years ago; same hairstyle (if a little shaggier), same thick eyebrows, same way-too-long eyelashes, same scar over the bridge of his nose… everything.

Kanda was stuck in an almost dazed state while the beansprout turned to them and said, "Don't worry guys, this is one of my friends. He's an Angel."

"Really?" said Lenalee.

"So we don't have to worry about you guys attacking us?" said Lavi.

"Nope," said Alma, smiling. "We're on the same side."

Link (Kanda had recognized the arrogant senior immediately) coughed lightly as if in feeble disagreement.

"Whoa, Two-Spot? Is that you?" said Lavi, grinning, to which Link scowled.

"Don't call me that," he grumbled.

"It is you! Hey guys, lemme introduce you! Mr. Double Mole over there is Howard Link. He's from Rose Cross, too!" said Lavi.

"Of course!" said Lenalee with a gasp. "He's the one I asked for directions!"

"You seem popular," said Alma, smiling back at Link, who rolled his eyes.

"You know them already?" said Allen.

"Just Link," said Lavi.

"Well I can introduce us," said Alma, gesturing at the blue haired kid next to him. "This is Timothy Hearst, my contractor. And for those who don't know, I'm-"

"Alma freaking Karma," Kanda hissed.

Everyone looked around at him. He barely registered the surprise on the others' faces, because he was too focused on Alma. Alma stared at him in bewilderment for a moment, then squinted and tilted his head to the side. Almost immediately his eyes shot wide again and a broad grin stretched over his face.

"Yu! Oh my god, it's really you!" he cried, flinging his arms wide and running over.

Kanda hung around with Lavi enough to know what that gesture meant, and pulled out his sword before Alma could get too close.

"Don't you freaking touch me!" he snapped.

Alma skidded to a halt just out of the sword's reach, face a combination of excited and confused.

"Yu?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" said Kanda. "Do you even know how long it's been? Where the hell did you run off to, you bastard?"

"Huh?"

"Ten years! You and your stupid blabbering!"

Kanda scrunched up his face. He was angry. He couldn't remember being so angry in all his life, because damn it, this was personal. And he couldn't figure out what exactly he wanted to say, but he wanted to say something really badly and anything he tried to force out was getting stuck in his throat. So just he grit his teeth and hissed a little longer. Alma's arms lowered, and the smile fell off his face.

"H-hey, it's not my fault," he said.

Kanda's hiss got a little higher pitched, and his face must've shown his rage, because Alma's expression changed to match.

"You're the one who went and blew the connection! I hung around as long as I could trying to set it up again, but you wouldn't have any of it!"

"Bullshit."

"Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean…"

"Don't you pull that on me! I tried, god damn it!"

"Hey!"

All of a sudden, the beansprout was standing between them, just to the side, but in a good position to keep them apart if need be. He looked from Kanda to Alma, a sickeningly concerned look on his face.

"Calm down, both of you. I don't know what's going on between you. Obviously you've met before and you're not quite happy with each other, but that doesn't change the fact that you're allies right now," he said.

"I know that," Alma whispered.

"I don't need an 'ally' who would walk out on me when things get bad," Kanda scoffed, lowering the sword again. He knew it was useless to wave it around if the Beansprout was just going to push him around with that god damned arm, and he wanted to avoid that embarrassment in front of Alma. That would imply weakness.

"I didn't walk out on you!" said Alma indignantly.

"Both of you stop it!" Allen barked, but Kanda ignored him and retorted, "You did, you liar! You should've stayed in whatever pit you crawled into!"

"Kanda, you're acting like a child!"

"I don't freaking care!" Kanda roared, throwing up his hands and nearly taking off the beansprout's arm in the process. "I'm pissed off, and I have every right to be! Don't bitch at me about manners, you god damn beansprout!"

"Calm-"

"SHUT UP!"

Kanda turned on his heel and stormed off. He didn't care if he was heading toward the broken water main or the opposite direction of his car, he just needed to get away from them. But he didn't go very far before Miranda got in his way. She shuffled quickly into his path, and while she shook like a leaf, she stood her ground.

"P-Please don't, Kanda," she stuttered. "Don't leave the group. There are Akuma out there. You'll get hurt, or killed…."

"Like Daisya?" he growled.

Miranda began to nod, but seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly turned it into a violent shake.

"N-no! I mean yes, or, er… oh dear…"

Kanda knew what she meant anyway. And mad as he was, he was still rational and knew that wandering off on his own was very bad for his chances of survival. He let out a sharp breath, and the black sheath covered his sword. He crossed his arms with the weapon tucked against his side, and turned up his nose, turning around once more.

"Yu?" Alma said cautiously.

Kanda ignored him determinedly and walked over to Lenalee. He took the place next to her and stared off into space, refusing to acknowledge Alma's presence any more. He kept his ears open, though. He'd be damned if he missed something important just because he was acting like a brat (because he knew full well that he was).

"Dude, you okay?" Lavi whispered.

Kanda replied with a grunt.

"Um… well, now that that's settled," Allen mumbled. "Yeah, this is Alma Karma. Like I said before, he's an Angel."

"Hi," Alma said lamely.

"Um, hello," said Lenalee.

"Yo," said Lavi.

An awkward silence descended on them. The others didn't seem to know what to say, and Kanda was still determined not to say anything. After a good few minutes, Link spoke up again.

"The day may be repeating itself, but I'd rather not be arrested for destruction of public property," he said.

They all looked over at the crater and the water gurgling out of it.

"Whoops," said Lavi.

* * *

Tyki let his chin rest on his palm, the arm propped up on one knee as he sat in the tub in the back of the bookstore. Why exactly there was an old bathtub filled with cushions he didn't know, but it made a more comfortable spot than the floor. If he had his way he'd be off in dreamland while the blond Akuma stood watch (she had killed the old man and he couldn't sense any more Innocence close by), but apparently now that he'd stopped moving, the other Akuma decided now was the time to report. He fought to keep his eyes open and attention focused as one of them jabbered on about a moving statue.

"See, it walks around the park at night and hides in the daytime! Humans can't make the nonliving move, so it must be Innocence!"

"There's this thing called a robot," Tyki said flatly. "And if you'll recall, you're not alive either."

The Akuma looked flustered.

"Y-yes, but we were made by the Millennium Earl! Normal humans can't hope to reach his level."

"Have you even bothered to investigate the technology here?" said Tyki, rolling his eyes.

The Akuma continued to stammer, and Tyki's eyes roved over the crowd behind it. Just his luck, it looked like a hundred or so of them were trying to squeeze into the shop. His mouth quirked as he tried to come up with a way to get rid of them without leaving the tub.

Salvation came with a high-pitched squawk.

"Master Tyki, lero!"

There was a faint blur in the metal bell by the cash register, and quickly something popped right out of it. To most, it was a stupid-looking umbrella. It was indeed a large umbrella, a light, pale pink one with a ribbon that kept it closed. On the top sat a small orange pumpkin with a jack-o-lantern's face, with a yellow spike instead of a stem. While the thing looked odd, it was a golem, and one with a considerable amount of personality. It bobbed in the air over to him, little pumpkin face all screwed up in worry as it muttered, "Lero, lero, lero…."

"Hey, Lero. What brings you here?" said Tyki, glad for the distraction.

"The Earl wants to know what you're doing, lero," said the umbrella.

"Really?" Tyki said with a smirk. "Usually it takes him a week or so to get curious. What's the real reason?"

Lero squirmed (how he could be a functioning umbrella and still squirm and bend without breaking, Tyki had no idea) and mumbled something under his breath.

"It's Road, isn't it?"

"Of course, lero!" Lero blurted. "Always stealing me and waving me around and stepping on me and- _lerolerolerolerolero_…." As soon as he realized what he'd been saying, he broke down into nervous muttering of his own name again.

"Are you talking badly about my niece?" said Tyki.

He wasn't angry at all, but it was always fun to tease Lero because the golem would get so flustered.

"E-er, no, lero! Lero loves Mistress Road!"

"I know," Tyki chuckled, waving a hand in dismissal. "What'd she do this time?"

"She used me to hit the party guests, lero."

Tyki whistled.

"I bet that went over well."

"The Earl and Master Sheril never punish her, lero! Spanking would do her some good!" Lero grumbled.

"Really? A spanking?" said Tyki, disbelieving.

"She never listens or obeys rules, lero."

"That's what makes her Road."

The Akuma were glancing at each other, as if uncertain as to whether they should continue their reports or not. Tyki noticed this and smiled.

"Akuma," he said, and they all snapped to attention, "go back to your positions and keep watch for anything new. I'm sure the Earl has some more orders for me."

"Yes, master Noah!" they cried in unison, and hurried out the door.

Tyki watched to make sure they were all gone. Once satisfied, he flopped back into the cushions and let out a long sigh of relief. Lero floated a little closer to look down at him.

"Master Tyki, lero?"

"I'm going to sleep," said Tyki. "Do what you want. You," he said, pointing at the blond Akuma, who had remained in place, "Watch out for anything and wake me if need be."

"Yes, sir," said the Akuma, before going back among the shelves.

Lero bobbed uncertainly as Tyki pulled one of the pillows over his eyes. With the light blocked, he let out another sigh. A nap would be very nice.

* * *

Lavi was sure that it was going to be a lot easier to train with two teachers. The addition of two more students made it a bit more difficult, but hey, more backup. He wasn't complaining.

After Link had mentioned that whole public damage thing, they'd climbed back into the cars (they'd been careful about the seating arrangements so as to keep Kanda and Alma away from each other) and driven back downtown to the old mill in Falls Park. The new plan was to assess what type of strengths they had now and go from there.

At this point Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda had demonstrated what they could do (personally Lavi thought they were pretty impressive), and then it was turned over to the newbies.

"Timothy's Innocence allows him to possess people and Akuma," said Alma (now recovered and beaming again), gesturing at the kid, who puffed out his chest in pride.

"It's called Tsukikami! I can do all the things the guy I'm possessing can do, too!" he boasted.

"Meaning…?" Kanda grumbled.

"Meaning if he possessed you, he could use Mugen just as well as you can. Possibly better," said Allen, smirking slightly.

Lavi wondered what the hell a Mugen was, but then remembered what Kanda had shouted before. _Mugen_, _summon misfortune!_ Lavi glanced from Kanda's disgruntled face, to the sword, then to the tiny hammer in his hand. Mugen was a name, just like Allen's Crowned Clown and Timothy's Tsukikami. Maybe the hammer had a name as well. He frowned and curled his fingers around it, obscuring it from his eyes.

"How does it work?" said Lenalee, looking interested.

"It's simple," said Timothy, strolling over to her.

For a moment the two just looked at each other, and then, in a flash, his hands flew out and grabbed her chest. Reactions were instantaneous. Lenalee let out a squeak of surprise, rage and embarrassment. Allen made a horrified choking noise. Miranda squawked, Alma winced, Two-Spot did a facepalm. Kanda whipped out Mugen with one hand and grabbed the kid's shirt with the other. Lavi grabbed him from the other side only a fraction of a second slower, and they heaved him bodily away. But something wasn't right- Timothy dangled from their grip, feet a foot off the ground and head lolling to the side. He looked like he'd fallen fast asleep.

"Hey!" said Lenalee, "Don't manhandle me!"

"He won't be manhandling _anything_," Kanda growled.

"Wait! Hey, no! Put my body down!" Lenalee raged, and Lavi lost his grip in shock.

"_Your_ body?" he said.

Lenalee glared at him and pointed at Timothy.

"Yeah, my body!"

Kanda dropped him unceremoniously and sent his glare at her instead.

"You possessed Lenalee, then?" he said.

"Yeah," said what Lavi was finally comprehending as Timothy-in-Lenalee's-body, putting hands on hips and striking the kind of pose grade school kids used to look tough. "I surprise people to possess them. Make them drop their guard, ya know?"

"But groping?" said Lavi, incredulous.

"Worked, didn't it?"

Lavi couldn't help but be relieved that Lenalee's brother wasn't present. He'd sounded dangerous at the idea of her talking to a boy. Baby sister molested? Definitely grounds for murder.

"I'm sorry, but I need to lay this rule down. No more groping people for any reason. It's horribly rude and degrading," said Allen.

Lavi noticed Miranda let out a sigh of relief at that.

"What?" Lenalee-_Timothy_- whined. "But that's what I do! What if I need to possess somebody?"

"Then don't let it be a member of this group!" Alma said quickly.

"But…."

"I don't much like the idea of getting groped. If you were a chick it might be different, but a little boy? Really not my type," said Lavi.

Lenalee/Timothy scowled at him. The scowl dropped as Kanda held Mugen up to her face.

"Get out of her body," he growled.

"Uh…."

"Did you not hear me?"

The blade inched closer to her nose, and Timothy squeaked and hid behind Lavi. Lavi of course felt very vulnerable playing the meatshield. Kanda redirected his demonic glare, and a shudder ran down his spine. The odd feeling at the back of his mind he'd labelled _Innocence Instinct_ was prickling uncertainly, as if ready to spring into action. But for what? To protect him from Kanda?

"Get out of the way, stupid rabbit."

Innocence Instinct gave him a swift kick in the ass and he decided yes, it was definitely trying to get him out of Kanda's way. He scuttled to the side, but to his horror, Lenalee's fingers had dug into his shirt and the body followed.

"Whoa, uh, Tim buddy, ya mind not putting me in the line of fire?" he mumbled.

"You first, Eyepatch," Timothy grumbled back, shrinking even further behind him.

"Uh, Kanda…" said Allen.

"I said get out of her body, now!" Kanda spat.

"Yu, calm down!" said Alma.

Kanda turned the blade on him now, expression a whole new level of furious.

"Don't you tell me what to do, you little…."

"Hey!" Allen barked sharply.

Alma looked hurt, and Lavi's stupid curiosity wondered again how those two really knew each other.

"Leave Alma alone, you big fat bully!" cried Timothy, jumping out of hiding.

Immediately Kanda changed targets again. Alma's eyes hardened and he took a step forward, tensing up, much like Allen did when Miranda was threatened. Timothy didn't cower this time, though. He stood up tall and faced Kanda, though fear still showed in Lenalee's eyes.

"Swing that stupid sword around all you want, but you'll only hurt her!"

"Oh?" said Kanda, raising an eyebrow. He hoisted Timothy's body off the ground and held Mugen to his neck. The other eyebrow rose to match its partner and his face smoothed out to a wholly unimpressed expression, like he was asking how they could all be so stupid. "Care to say that again?"

Lenalee's face went pale. After a few odd little noises of disbelief, her eyes rolled back into her head and her knees buckled. Lavi quickly caught her and lowered her to the ground, even as her eyes fluttered open again.

"Huh? What…." she muttered, then her eyes went wide and she quickly crossed her arms over her chest.

At the same time, Timothy's own body had kicked back to life, squirming wildly.

"Hey, let me go!" he squealed.

Kanda dumped him on the ground again and stalked over to the others.

"Dude, what the hell!" Timothy wailed, as Alma knelt next to him. Kanda ignored him completely.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly.

"O-oh, yeah. What just happened?" said Lenalee.

Kanda got the 'yeah' and wandered off to lounge against one of the walls. Allen scowled at him, but didn't try to scold him or anything, thank god. Lenalee looked up at Lavi for an explanation. Just a little flustered, he whispered quickly, "He surprised and possessed you, Kanda got pissed, you didn't miss much of anything."

"He _what_?"

Link cleared his throat loudly, startling Miranda in the process.

"Can we move on?" he said, sounding annoyed.

Alma pulled Timothy to his feet and let the child hide behind his legs. The kid clung to his pants and stuck his tongue out at Kanda as Alma said, "Yeah, I think that's best. Do you want to…"

"Right," said Link, before giving them all a cold look and announcing, in a no-nonsense tone, "I'm a Magician."

A magician. Lavi had a mental image of the guy pulling a rabbit out of a hat and broke down sniggering. Lenalee just blinked in conffusion, and Miranda's head tipped a bit to the side.

"S-Seriously? A magician?" Lavi howled. "You've gotta be kidding!"

"I assure you I'm not," said Link, looking ever so slightly pissed off.

"What're you gonna do, pull a coin out of somebody's ear?" Lavi laughed.

"Magicians do exist, you know. Magicians as in actual magic user. My master is one," said Allen.

Lavi's laugh caught in his throat as he stared at Allen. What kind of master did he have, anyway? Some womanizing bastard who gave away valuable technology and apparently played magic tricks. Lavi snickered again, but forced down the rest of his mirth.

"Magicians may not be accommodators of Innocence, but they can easily be an advantage," said Alma. "Sure, they can't destroy Akuma or Noah, but they can slow the enemy down, immobilize them completely, and do heavy damage. Not to mention they have spells that can boost the abilities of allies."

Okay, Lavi had to admit, that was kind of cool.

"Since when did you get into magic?" he said. "I mean, really, it doesn't seem like your thing."

Link looked reluctant to answer, but replied, "I was trained since early childhood to combat anyone who came through from the Ark."

"Somebody seriously taught you magic."

"It is a tradition."

"And you'll never believe it, but Atuuda's taken a liking to him, too," said Alma.

"Atuuda?" Lenalee repeated.

In response, something large and white, looking vaguely like a catfish, floated over Link's shoulder. At the sight of it Lavi accidentally wobbled out of his kneel and onto the ground.

"What the hell is that?" he yelped.

"It's a golem," said Allen.

"There's no way that's a golem," said Lavi. None of the golems he'd seen had been near that size or color.

"It's a special one, like Tim," said Allen, and Timcanpy spiraled around his head before perching on his hair. "It's a unique golem, there's no other like it. Atuuda's specialty is healing. Magicians usually can't use such abilities, but it channels its master's magic and converts it to the healing energy."

"So Link's it's master?" said Lavi.

"No, it's master is Zhu Mei Chan. But it seems to like Link an awful lot and Zhu's old, so it might be picking its successor," said Alma, shrugging. "It may not do much healing here, but it can still be useful."

Link eyed 'Atuuda' as if he hadn't known any of this before, with a slightly reproachful look. The golem looked like it was staring back, despite the fact that it had no eyes. Which was kinda creepy.

"Where'd it even find you, Two-Spot?"

"I don't remember," said Link, apparently sensing it futile to fight against the nicknames.

"What do you mean, you don't remember?" said Lavi.

"No Innocence," said Allen, shrugging. "Makes perfect sense to me."

"Wait, so he can't remember yesterday, or all the other repeat days?" said Lenalee.

"No. We actually had to tell him what's going on all over again this morning," Timothy complained, still in hiding.

"But you knew something was up! I could tell during your chess game with Johnny," said Lavi, snapping his fingers as he remembered Link's behavior back then. "You were all pissed off because you were sure you'd already beat him a hundred times and everybody was being unoriginal!"

Obviously Link didn't remember this either, because now it looked like he was trying to decide between being frustrated or confused.

"Magic would probably grant some resistance against the Innocence's power," Allen mused.

"Noah itself is considered a kind of magic. Makes sense a strong normal magic and its neutral energy could shake off a bit of the effects," said Alma.

"Only he's not strong," Timothy butted in.

Lavi sniggered at the look on Link's face.

"No, really! We had to save him from a Level One!" said Timothy, grinning. "He looked so stupid running from it, like a chicken with his head cut off!"

"Did he?" Lavi said gleefully.

"Yeah!"

"And-"

"Wait, a Level One?" Allen squeaked.

There was nothing in his voice that had any kind of optimism in it. As a result everyone went quiet and the hilarity of the story evaporated away all too quickly. There was a light crunching of dry grass from behind him, and Lavi guessed Miranda was creeping closer to the group. Why was the mention of a weaker Akuma so scary?

"I don't get it," he said, raising his hand. "Why are we scared about the small fries?"

"A lot of reasons. They don't have the same control over their bloodlust as the higher levels, and are a lot more likely to cause massacres. Worse, it means the killing's already begun," said Allen.

The hammer in his hand grew hot, almost as if it was angry or something. Lavi tightened his grip on it again and said, "What do you mean?"

"I mean the only Akuma sent over from the Ark were Level Two. The only way there could be Ones here is if they were created here. Meaning people are dying, their families are grieving, and the Earl's already taking advantage of it," Allen said darkly.

"W-wait, the Millennium Earl is here?" Miranda gasped.

"More likely he's making his contracts through Brokers," said Alma.

"I thought Brokers were the ones who pulled Akuma through to this world," said Miranda, and Lavi wondered where she'd gotten the info.

"Those are the typical Brokers here. Back in the Ark, the Brokers focus on creating the Akuma," said Alma. "They trick people into signing contracts that the Earl's drawn up, and turn them into Akuma that way. Broker-borns aren't usually strong as the Earl-born variety, but they're still dangerous."

"So the Brokers here are taking tips from their Ark people?" said Lavi.

"Looks like it," said Allen.

"How bad are our odds?"

"I don't know," said Allen.

"Let's go with dismal. That's usually the situation anyway," said Alma, smiling despite his words.

"Um, Alma?" Lenalee piped up timidly. "What can you do? Is your Innocence parasitic like Allen's?"

All eyes (Kanda's included, Lavi noticed) turned to Alma. Even Timothy looked a little curious, so maybe even he didn't know what Alma could do. Alma himself looked a bit surprised.

"Uh… yeah, it's a parasitic type. There a reason you're asking?"

"W-well, you're still smiling. Do you have a trump card or something?" said Lenalee, an embarrassed blush lighting her cheeks.

"Oh, I wish!" Allen laughed.

"Oh hush, you," Alma scoffed. "I suppose I'm a trump card since I'm highly synchronized, but I'm nowhere near a general or Noah's level. I just smile 'cause that tends to make it a little easier to breathe."

"Ah," said Lenalee, trying not to look too disappointed.

"Why don't you show off?" said Allen.

"Huh?" said Alma

"Timothy demonstrated his ability, why don't you show yours?"

"Well, I…"

"Come on!" said Lavi. "Might as well! Allen's showed us his arm."

He watched closely as Alma glanced discreetly at Kanda. Kanda gave absolutely no acknowledgement, but Alma scrunched up his face.

"Ugh, fine," he said, not sounding too bothered at all. "Innocence, activate."

Green flame engulfed his body. Timothy leaped back with a squeal, and Miranda made a frightened choking noise. Lenalee tensed up, but Lavi didn't react too much. By this time he'd come to associate the green fire with Innocence, and Innocence was a good thing. True, the fire lingered a bit longer than it usually did when a weapon activated, but it dissipated eventually.

Alma's clothes were gone, that was the first thing that registered in Lavi's brain. Instead he was covered in black markings. The largest patch covered his hips and upper legs like shorts, with raised portions on the outside of the thighs, ridges that formed odd shapes and left patches of skin bare. Single ridges encased a kind of triangular cap on each shoulder. On the left, the black of the ridge moved down to his chest, shaped like grasping claws. Two more black stripes wound near the bottom of his rib cage, a triangle between them with a bare ring in the middle. On his biceps were odd triangle marks in bright purples, pinks and greens. Each limb below the black, he barely seemed human- the limbs colored like porcelain but shaped roughly. A thin black tail twisted behind him, topped with a heart shape. And above his head floated a big, freaking gold halo.

"You look like one of those demons out of a video game," said Lavi.

"Out of a what?" said Alma, looking confused.

"You know, a- aw, never mind," said Lavi.

"Okay… Well, this is my Innocence, Lotus. As you can see, it affects my entire body so it takes a bit longer for it to activate," said Alma.

"What does it do?" said Timothy, inching closer again and eying the tail.

"Essentially it turns me into an Akuma," said Alma, and Timothy stopped short.

"What do you mean, an Akuma?" said Miranda.

"His Innocence mimics the appearance and some abilities of a Level Four Akuma," Allen cut in.

"Hang on, wait, Level _Four_? How many levels do these things have?" said Lavi.

"As far as we know, Level Four is the strongest. And they've only recently been confirmed. Since Akuma are always evolving, we have no way of judging what their capacity is," said Allen.

"Can't you judge it the same way as you do the Innocence?" said Lavi. "I mean, you can determine the synchronization, can't you judge capacity there?" He tried to keep all the anxiousness out of his voice, but it was difficult. Taking down that pair of Level Twos had been difficult even in a group, and the idea that they could end up fighting something twice that strength was freaking him right the hell out.

"No, not really," said Alma, lashing his tail.

"There's only one person in the Ark who can determine how synchronized you are with Innocence, and she can't move. She can't defend herself either, and she has to touch you to judge anything. Needless to say, it's a bad idea to bring an Akuma anywhere near her," said Allen.

"Well that sucks," Lavi grumbled.

"And she can't judge capacity in the first place," said Alma. "See, you have to be over one hundred percent synchronized to be a General, but Generals shoot up way past that barrier. In theory, isn't one hundred percent supposed to be the max capacity?"

"Oh," said Lenalee.

"I suppose that makes sense," said Miranda.

"Still sucks," Lavi griped.

"Not much we can do about it," Alma chuckled.

"I suppose…."

"So here's our power, then," said Allen. "Sword," he pointed at Kanda, "flying shoes," Lenalee pointed at herself uncertainly, "Whac-a-Mole," the others sniggered and Lavi didn't know whether to be offended, "possession," Timothy shrugged, "warrior magician," Link didn't look pleased, but then again he never did, "the human battering ram," Alma grinned, "and of course, the claws," he finished, gesturing at himself.

"Quite the variety," said Alma.

"Yeah. Got any ideas on strategy?" said Allen.

"You're seriously asking me about strategy?" said Alma. "You're the one taught by a General, what do you think?"

"I don't know, he just tossed me at Akuma and told me to destroy them if I didn't want to die."

"Wow, your master's crazy," said Lavi.

"No kidding," said Allen. "He's a demon, I swear."

"That still doesn't give us a strategy," said Alma, folding his arms.

"Well, I think Allen's system sounded good. Should we keep going with that?" said Lenalee.

"I don't know. What's Allen's system?" Alma asked.

"He tracks down Akuma with his eye, we destroy them. We hunt for Innocence along the way," said Lenalee. "That's what we were doing earlier."

"At this point, I think that might be all we can do," said Allen.

Alma nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I think that's probably the best plan for now. But I think we should do some practicing here, you know? Make sure everyone knows what kind of abilities they have, what the others can do, how to work with that in a fight. Because something tells me seven-on-one could get messy for both sides, and friendly fire is the last thing we want right now," he said.

"Good point," said Allen, and he looked over at Lavi and the others. "What do you think?"

"Sure, let's do it," said Lavi.

"It could come in handy," said Lenalee.

"If you think it'll help," Miranda muttered, barely audible.

And Kanda still refused to talk.

* * *

Miranda was out getting sandwiches again. As she waited for the orders to be filled (in addition to the the newcomers' food, Allen had been a bit more daring and ordered three more sandwiches than yesterday), she pondered her place in the group.

Most of them were Innocence accommodators, the ones who actually had a major role to play. They were the ones who could make the difference. Then there was Link, who, while he couldn't destroy Akuma, could apparently tip the scales in a fight. And last, Miranda. The one without a purpose. The one who couldn't do anything. The one who didn't belong. If anything, she was dragging them all down, Allen especially. The thought sent her into a funk.

She didn't even realize the sudden melancholy she was giving off, but the employees were edging away as much as they could. One came up to the counter, holding up the bags of sandwiches as a shield and said, loudly, "Miss Lotto, your order's done."

Miranda looked up in surprise and squeaked when she saw the bags.

"O-oh, of course! They've been done for a while now, haven't they? I haven't been paying much attention, have I? I'm so mad at this. I'm so sorry to be such an inconvenience, sir. I'm afraid I'm a bit useless…."

"Just take the sandwiches," said the employee, sounding ever so slightly disgusted.

The others shrank still further at the extra wave of gloom.

"Of course. Sorry to bother you," Miranda mumbled, taking the bags. The other customers gave her a wide berth as she left the shop.

Wandering back toward the park, she kept thinking of the Innocence situation. Was there any end in sight? The only solution they had was to find something they'd never be able to identify and shove it out of the world somehow. It would be hard enough to find someone to pull it through, but the Heart itself was impossible. All of it was a futile attempt, wasn't it? With no way to locate the Heart and no way to tell how much Innocence there even was in Mater, they could just be running in circles forever. The thought of living the same day for the rest of her life was both frightening and horribly depressing. And that was why she was following Allen and the others, wasn't it? In the vain hope that something might happen to save them. And in the sad attempt to keep Akuma from killing everyone in the city. This was not how she'd pictured her life as an adult. True, she hadn't pictured herself so useless either, but this? This was ridiculous. This shouldn't have been possible in real life. She truly was bad luck incarnate.

While she was thinking, she'd managed to get pretty far. She found herself standing outside the mill entrance, and with a start, she hurried inside. A wave of noise washed over her as the others winked into existence. Like before, everyone was hard at work.

Nearby, Kanda was twirling his sword, golem light glinting bright off the blade as Link sidestepped and ducked. The blond was actually very fast, at least as fast as Kanda himself, and he kept fitting in light punches and kicks between swipes of the sword. As a result, Kanda was quickly picking up the idea of defense and dodging himself. Those two were having just a bit of trouble, avoiding not only each other, but the giant hammer Lavi was swinging around. This time Lavi was targeting Alma. He was still manipulating the hammer's size and distance, but unlike Allen, Alma was allowing himself to be caught. He'd let himself be drawn in, only to lash out and attack, causing Lavi to reel back in surprise and scramble to defend. And even now, Alma didn't move to block the hammer head, leaving it to smash into his shoulder. The force made him skid a few feet, but his Innocence had protected him from the blow- with a strike of his hand, the hammer shot up, letting him dart forward to attack. Lavi yelped and rolled to the side, nearly taking Allen's legs out from beneath him. Allen hopped awkwardly to avoid him, waving his normal hand wildly as he fought to keep his balance upon landing. His other arm was transformed and quite a bit longer than usual. With this he was trying to catch Lenalee. She was zipping around overhead, working on control. She was working on fighting too, because sometimes she'd zoom in to kick at the cross mark on the back of his invoked hand and escape before he could react. When Allen did catch her (either because a of loss of control or because she hadn't been crafty enough), he'd mutter something, she'd nod, and he'd let go so she could jump into the air again. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Timothy was lurking- presumably to take advantage of anyone with their guard down.

Miranda stood near the door to watch for a while. It was no surprise that Timothy was the first to notice her, being bored already with his training. His face split into a big grin, and he raced over.

"Food! Finally!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I take too long?" Miranda said nervously, but Timothy wasn't interested in answering her. Instead, he had pulled one of the bags closer to him and was rummaging through it in search of his food.

"I'm so hungry! I actually managed to get control of Eyepatch earlier, but I came out _starving_!" he griped.

"That's what happens when you use Innocence!" Alma laughed, perching on top of the hammer (much to Lavi's annoyance; he shook it from side to side, to no avail). "Yours is more parasitic, too, so it takes more of a toll on your body. You've got to burn up a lot of energy."

Maybe that was why Allen ate so much? Because his Innocence needed so much energy?

"What? That sucks! Unless we get to eat a giant cake. Cake would be cool," said Timothy, finally locating his sandwich and pulling it out.

"Sandwiches will have to do for now," said Lenalee, amused.

She executed a backflip through the air and alighted beside Miranda, Innocence reverting to bangles a few inches above the ground. This seemed to be the cue for everyone else, because suddenly there was a crowd of sweaty people crowding around in hope of food. For a moment Miranda was overwhelmed, but she quickly started handing out sandwiches. Once everyone had their share, they all arranged themselves into a lopsided circle to eat. The light dimmed as Timcanpy fluttered down to rest on Allen's knee. Atuuda slid into Link's lap in response, and Miranda came to the conclusion that both golems were possessive.

"I think we're improving already," Alma mumbled, mouth full.

"Yeah, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it," Lenalee laughed.

"Me too!" said Lavi, holding up his hammer (it had gotten tiny again). "Akuma will stand no chance against our group!"

"Yeah, we'll kick Akuma butt!" said Timothy.

"But to do that we should stay synchronized," said Alma. "Do we have a meeting place for tomorrow?"

Allen looked over at Miranda, face blank but eyes questioning. Miranda blinked back at him as she tried to figure out what he meant. She tilted her head in confusion, he shrugged, and slowly, it came to her.

"Oh, um, I suppose we could meet at my house. We met there this morning," she said, keeping an eye on Allen to make sure this was what he meant. He smiled a bit in response, so she guessed she had it right.

"You sure you're okay with that?" said Alma.

"O-of course! I want to help somehow," said Miranda.

"Okay! Then that's the plan. We'll rendezvous at Miranda's house tomorrow morning, early as possible, and regroup there. I'll bring Timothy over, since we pop up in the same place every morning," said Alma. "Did you say that you went to the same school as Link?"

"We sure do. We can drive him over with us, right, Kanda?" said Lavi, nudging the man next to him. Kanda cast him a dirty look, and Link didn't look too pleased with the arrangement.

"I highly doubt I'll agree to go with you of all people," said Link.

"Don't worry, we'll convince you," Lavi replied, with all the confidence in the world.

"I won't believe you," said Link, eyes narrowing.

"If you don't, I'll knock you out with the hammer and we'll toss you in the trunk," said Lavi, shrugging.

"Why you-"

"It'll work, just shut up, both of you," Kanda hissed.

"See? Seal of approval. We can do it."

Link rolled his eyes.

"I can drive like I did this morning," Lenalee interjected.

"Good!" said Alma, seizing on the new direction. "You going to be okay on your own?"

"Yeah. If I run into any trouble, I can either fight it or outrun it with these," she replied, gesturing at the bangles.

"Good, but still try to stay under the radar," said Alma. "What about you, Allen?"

"I'm at Miranda's house. I should be reset there tomorrow too," said Allen.

"Sounds good," said Alma, and he turned back to his food.

A silence fell over them, not completely comfortable, but not quite awkward either. Miranda picked at her sandwich, glancing nervously around at the others. Most of them were eating slowly, solemnly. Timothy was stuffing his face, but he probably didn't understand the gravity of the situation, did he? The only other one who seemed alive in the group was Allen. He was chowing down on the food too, but it looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Miranda watched him as he moved onto his fifth sandwich, a big smile on his face. It only changed when Timcanpy proceeded to chomp down on the other end and begin eating as well. He started to whine at the golem, but Timcanpy paid him no mind and ate the rest of the sandwich while he was distracted. It went after the remaining ones, but Allen dove forward and pulled them to his chest to protect them.

"It's my food, damn it! You're a golem, you're not even supposed to be able to eat!"

Timcanpy took hold of a piece of his hair and tugged angrily, and when that didn't work, it bit his ear. With a yowl he shot up, and the golem snatched up another sandwich, flying into the air and out of reach.

"_Tiiiiiiiim_! That's just mean!"

Miranda couldn't help but laugh, and she could hear the others giggling with her. As Allen got up and jumped, trying desperately to retrieve the stolen goods, she reflected that Alma was right. Laughing or smiling, either way, it made it a little easier to breathe.

In the meantime, Timcanpy grew frustrated with the sandwich wrapper, decided it wasn't worth the fuss, and ate it up, paper and all.

* * *

Footsteps echoed loudly off the walls as a man stalked through the semi-dark. Normally his steps would've been near silent, but away from the hustle and bustle of the lab areas above, everything here was much too loud. The hallway was huge, the ceiling far above his head and corridor wide enough to fit ten men standing shoulder to shoulder. It was like a grand entry hall or something, but there was nothing here. The hall went for about a mile underground, and after a truly tiny staircase, dead-ended into a flat wall. This surface was covered in a fresco of bright colors in disjointed triangles and circles. The colors seemed to have their own radiance to them, because it was from the fresco that the limited light source came.

The man took the steps two at a time, flipping off his flashlight before looking up at the fresco with an expression of annoyance and anger.

"This had better be good, Fou!" he yelled. "You started calling halfway through an inspection!"

"Oh suck it up!" said a disembodied voice, sounding just as annoyed as he was.

"I can't just 'suck it up!' That was Sheril Kamelot! Do you have any idea how much trouble we could be in if he suspected something?"

"The Noah are already distracted," said the voice.

A portion of the fresco began to glow purple, and slowly, a person emerged. This one was a girl more than a foot shorter than him. Her hair was reddish orange, her eyes scarlet. She wore a purple hat that rivaled the man's in strangeness, with matching clothes- what looked like a tube top and a bikini bottom, matched with tall boots. Strange green lines were drawn across her forehead, torso and legs. Stranger still, her arms didn't end in hands, but as large mittenlike appendages. She strode out of the colors and put these 'mittens' on her hips, glaring up at him like he'd done her some great wrong.

"It's his wife's birthday today, he was only taking a break from the party. Besides it's not like that Kamelot bastard takes you serious anyway, stupid Bak."

The man spluttered indignantly.

"Why you-"

"That's not why I called you down here, though," she said, cutting him off.

Bak looked even more flustered than before, but ground out, "Then _why_ did you call, while I was in the middle of a god damned interrogation?"

"I just talked to Hevlaska," said Fou, her face turning serious. The rattled expression drained from Bak as well, but the tension was still very much there.

"Did she have a message?"

"Yeah. She's been probing that thing in the limbo to figure out what's going on, and found out that it's not actually in the limbo. It's something in the other world, affecting a large city and the correlating space in limbo."

"Is it Innocence?" said Bak.

"Yeah, but that's not the craziest part," said Fou, with a little smirk. "She says the Vanguard is gathered."

"The _what_?" Bak choked.

"The Vanguard. You know, the leading part of the Heart's defense? The ones that surround and protect it above all others?" said Fou.

"You can't be serious."

"Yeah, that's what I said. But Hevlaska's certain. She can't actually identify the individual pieces, but she says the group itself is tied somehow. They've all been picked by the Heart. Shows in their auras or something."

"So the Heart is waking up, then," Bak muttered.

"Looks like it. Hope you've got a plan," said Fou.

"I'll come up with one. For now I'm going to get in contact with Cross and the others. If we can work together, then…" he paused, rubbed at his face and squinted into space for a moment, then nodded. "Right. I'll get preparations going. Keep an ear open in case Hevlaska has any more news."

"Not like I can do anything else down here," Fou grumbled.

"Oh shush, I'll bring you food later," said Bak, turning on his flashlight and turning back the way he'd come.

"It better be good, you hear! Delicacies!"

"Yeah, yeah…."

"And if you screwed up that inspection with Kamelot, I'll punch you in that ugly face!" she called.

"And who's fault would that be?" Bak screeched back.

"All yours, stupid Bak!"

* * *

And there's the end of chapter 8. I feel like it's too short and nothing happens, but I had nothing else planned for the day.

Notes:

1. A lot of people are asking about the various Noah members and whether they'll appear in the story. My answer? Yes. I plan on bringing in as many of them as I can. At the very least they'll appear in one scene, but I've got things planned for the main ones.

2. Miranda's dreams are just that, dreams. But because she's synching up with her Innocence, she's somewhat connected to the time stream- it's giving her little flashes of insight to the past and future. Her 'visions' aren't refined like Mei-Ling's, though: she gets these little bits and pieces that meld together inside what she's already dreaming, so it may make no sense whatsoever.

3. No one has yet guessed correctly who the two men in Miranda's dream were. I thought they might be obvious, but I guess I was wrong!

Again, thanks to everyone for the reviews!


	9. Crucible Callings

In her dream, Miranda was running. Echoes of the last dream lingered in this one- she knew she was chasing the man (men?) that she'd seen before. But a lot was different. The same black, crescent moon hung in the sky, but that sky was a bright red, growing pink near the horizon. The reflective ground below was no longer ground- it was water. Rust colored ruins stuck up out of the water like icebergs, the rest of them barely visible below the surface before sinking into darkness. They looked like the crumbled remnants of a castle, with elaborate carvings and grand arches among them.

On one outcropping of stone, she caught sight of dark hair. She splashed her way toward it (strange when there was no floor visible below, only an abyss), but as she got closer, the more wary she became. She stopped. It wasn't the man she'd been looking for. It was Alma, face down and still as death. Beside him Kanda was sprawled out, limp as the other, his own hair obscuring his face and trailing down into the water.

Horrified, Miranda took a step backward. Two steps. Three. And then she bolted. She kept running, not stopping even when she caught sight of others. Daisya hanging from chains. A little girl and old man floating in the water. Link's broken form draped over a gargoyle. Timothy crumbling into dust. Something clattered in the water as she bumped into it, broken pieces and a thin pole that tried to trip her. Lavi was slumped against a wall nearby, head bowed.

A scream shattered the silence. The panicked, terrified sound scared Miranda half to death, and she sprinted forward without thinking. There was another scream, closer now. Miranda rounded the corner. It was Lenalee. The girl was sloshing forward as if through quicksand rather than water. Her arms were outstretched, reaching desperately as her face twisted, tears running down her cheeks. She let out another wail, denial and fear mixed in her voice and on her face. But she wasn't looking at Miranda.

Between them was a red hand reaching up out of the water. As Miranda watched, the green of the cross on that hand was dimming, sputtering feebly for life as it sank down to the knuckles. She reached out as well, a cry of her own escaping as she ran. But like before, she was too late. The light flickered out and the fingertips slid from sight. Allen was gone, spiraling down into the dark.

* * *

Miranda woke with the nasty sensation that she'd tripped or fallen somewhere in dreamland. She hated such times, but usually she could fall asleep again without too much trouble. But this time something was wrong.

_Allen's gone, Allen's gone_, her mind whispered.

A glance at the clock said that it was 5:28 in the morning. Her common sense said to go back to bed, but that feeling wouldn't leave her alone. Instead she pulled back the covers and stood up. She tottered over to the door and opened it, peering out into the dim hall. The space beyond looked alien, distant, and menacing in the dark. Then from the front hall, the grandfather clock began to chime. Almost magically, all the hostility faded away. Feeling safe again (how had she ever lived without that beautiful clock?), she ventured out. She padded down the hall and into the living room to peek over the back of the couch. Allen was curled up there under a thick purple comforter, face pressed into the cushions to the point she could only see the faintest glimpse of the scar under his hair.

Allen was still there. And the light snoring left no doubt that he was alive.

Miranda felt a weight lift off her chest and sighed. It didn't change the fact that she wasn't tired, but it brought her a sense of peace. For lack of a better thing to do, she made her way into the bathroom and took a long, warm shower. By the time she was done the mirror was all fogged up. She got dressed and was toweling her hair when she heard a noise outside. Her heart leapt into her throat and she opened the door quietly as she could.

"Twenty-six… twenty-seven… twenty-eight…."

Counting? She crept out to investigate, and saw that the comforter had been pushed back, its occupant gone. Allen was in the kitchen. He'd pulled one of the chairs away from the table and tipped it so it was balancing on one leg. He was doing a one-armed handstand, right hand gripping the chair tightly, the other curled behind his back. His body was ramrod straight as he proceeded to do _pushups_. Without a shirt on.

With his torso bare, Miranda could see the entirety of his arm. It was ugly, red and veinous almost all the way up, but halfway up the bicep, it changed- like a kind of clayish substance with similar veins, attaching the arm to body in an almost Frankenstein manner. And on the other side of his body, extending from over the shoulder to nearly the small of his back, was a wicked, painful-looking scar, a warped discoloration going parallel to the spine.

"Thirty-two… thirty-three… thirty-four…."

What the hell had happened to leave that kind of mark?

"Thirty-six… thirty-seven… thirty-eight…."

Timcanpy paused. The golem had been bobbing next to Allen's ear with every number, as if joining in the exercise. Miranda had the feeling it was scrutinizing her. Allen's counting broke off and he stopped, craning his neck to look up at Timcanpy. In the process he caught sight of Miranda, too. She smiled weakly and waved.

"G-good morning," she said timidly.

Allen tipped to the side, bare feet landing lightly on the ground and chair righting itself perfectly, giving the idea that he'd done this many times before. He turned, and Miranda was shocked to see that the giant scar continued onto his front, same length and thickness.

"Good morning, Miranda," he said, smiling back. "You're up early."

"Nightmare," she admitted with a shrug.

"Still no sharp candles?" said Allen.

"None that I remember, but I don't remember much in the first place," said Miranda. "What are you doing?"

"Morning routine," said Allen, patting the back of the chair.

"You do that every morning?" said Miranda, surprised.

"Yep. It started when Master made me do it as punishment, but it's gotten to the point I can't skip it without feeling like something's wrong the rest of the day," said Allen.

"Wow. Oh, um, don't mind me, then. Keep going," said Miranda, drifting toward the cupboard. "I'll get breakfast ready."

"Okay, then," said Allen.

Miranda sifted through the cupboard to find the Bisquick again, determined not to look back at him. She could hear him shuffling about nervously. Perhaps he was more self-conscious than his voice had suggested? With that arm and the scars, Miranda could see why. She'd just pulled out the box when she heard the chair creak, a grunt, and then the counting resumed. She kept her eyes averted, hunting for the rest of the supplies before going to the stove. The counting was much faster than before, as if Allen was eager to be done with it, and he hit three-hundred by the time she was done with the first three pancakes. She put them on a plate and finally turned around.

"Here you go," she said, holding it out.

Allen quickly donned a shirt and took the plate, beaming down at the food.

"Awesome! Thanks, Miranda," he chirped, and went to pick up the syrup bottle.

Miranda's brain came crashing to a halt.

Thanks.

_Thanks_.

Someone had actually thanked her for something.

Either she'd made some sort of noise or the shock had shown on her face. Allen was giving her a wide-eyed, weirded out stare, hand frozen in its reach for the bottle.

"Uh, Miranda? You okay?" he said apprehensively.

Miranda made a noise that sounded a lot like a startled chicken, dropped what she was holding, and launched herself onto him, much like she'd done the previous day. She wrapped her arms around him tight and cried into his shoulder. She didn't think about how her nose was probably right up against the scar, or how he was all sweaty. Allen let out a squawk and the plate smashed on the floor, but again, Miranda didn't really care.

"Miranda, what-"

"Thank you! Thank you! I just- you- no one's ever said- I- I…."

She dissolved into unintelligible gibberish. After a minute, Allen's body relaxed a bit, and he brought up his arms to embrace her too. She could feel his chin on her shoulder as she continued to sob.

"Shhh, it's okay, Miranda," he said, patting her back. "Yeah, it's just… really, thank you. Thank you for everything you've done."

"I-I feel like I haven't- haven't done anything," she hiccuped.

"I told you before, didn't I? You're a very brave woman, Miranda. And you've helped us more than you know."

Miranda didn't know what to say, so she just kept bawling. Her tears were soaking into his shirt, and once she realized, she snapped her head back up.

"Oh god I really am pathetic! I'm messing up your shirt!" she whimpered.

"It's fine," said Allen.

Miranda sniffed loudly.

"But it's all snotty now…"

Allen winced at that, but kept the smile on his face as he replied, "It's just a shirt. I'm okay."

Miranda sniffled and rested her forehead against his collar again.

"Thank you," she muttered. "Thank you."

"No problem."

* * *

Kanda stared up at the ceiling. It had taken him a while to wake up today, and he had never quite experienced something like it before. Waking up slowly, yes, but being whispered to? No. At first he'd thought it was Lavi and his nonsense, but the voice wasn't Lavi's. It really wasn't even a voice. It was some sort of sensation in his mind that made him think of speech, but there were no words, no sound to go with it. He knew the source, though.

MUGEN.

The letters arranged themselves in his head as he gripped the sword's handle. Mugen was his Innocence. He could understand better now, what the beansprout had said. Mugen was alive and communicating. What it was trying to say he had no idea, but it was soothing to 'listen.' Like hearing the wind in the trees. He closed his eyes again and let out a long sigh. He basked in the calm for a while more, and almost slipped back into slumber, but apparently his bedmate would have none of it.

Lavi rolled onto his back (still asleep, of course) and let his arm flop onto Kanda's head. It was a testament to the whisper's influence that he let it stay there as long as he did, but even the calm couldn't hold back his anger for long. He slapped the hand away and kicked at Lavi's legs. The redhead jerked awake just in time to be shoved over the edge yet again. Over on the desk, Kanda's golem seemed to wince, while Lavi's just watched vacantly.

"Seriously?" Lavi moaned, pushing himself up to glare over the mattress. "Seriously, you're not going to get over this?"

"You were freaking touching me," Kanda snapped.

"It's a freaking twin bed!"

"You should've slept on the other one!"

"But this is _my_ bed! You should've slept on the other one!"

"You weren't even here!"

"Still my bed!"

"It's morning anyway," said Kanda, aiming another kick that the other dodged rather quickly for it being so early. "Get your ass up and get ready to go. We've got to find Double-Mole."

"Oh yeah," Lavi muttered. He flopped onto the rug again, and was unmoving as Kanda stepped over him.

"I said get up."

"Taking my time."

"You were a snail in another life, weren't you?"

Lavi sat up again, blinking confusedly. After some hesitation he said, "Do mine ears deceive me? Was that a joke?"

"It was a criticism," said Kanda, tossing a pair of the much hated too-tight-jeans at the other's face.

"Huh. Well, it sounded funny anyway."

Kanda scoffed.

A half-hour later, they were walking out of Winters dorm, golems flapping around their heads. Lavi shivered in the cold, wrapping a vivid orange scarf tighter around his neck. Kanda couldn't help but shudder as well. Was it just him or had it gotten colder?

"I'm taking this jacket once this is all through," he said, zipping it up as far as it would go.

"Abuse and theft?" said Lavi absentmindedly. "I'm beginning to think you don't love me. Where do you think Link is this time of day?"

"Doesn't he have a damn schedule?" said Kanda.

"Yeah, but I'm never awake early on the weekends, so I don't know what it is he does. I've got the rest of the day down pat."

"That does us a load of good," Kanda scowled.

Lavi opened the dorm door and stuck his head inside to yell, "Hey, Johnny! Do you know where Two-Spot is?"

Johnny had come down in the elevator with them again, and he looked up from his chess set to call back, "He's probably having breakfast. Saturday means waffles for him, you know."

"Awesome!" said Lavi, giving him the thumbs up.

"Could you tell him I'm waiting for the game?"

"Uh, I don't think he'll be able to play today. I'll tell him to call you with a better time."

"Oh, don't bother. My phone's busted," said Johnny, holding up the device. "Don't know what happened, it's like it short-circuited or something…"

"Then I'll tell him to make some plans with you some other way!" said Lavi. "See ya!"

He closed the door and began to lead the way toward the cafeteria, an unsettled expression on his face.

"What's with that look?" said Kanda, falling into step beside him.

"I kinda killed his phone when I got here. I thought the rewind would fix it like it's fixing everything else, but I guess not," said Lavi.

"Is it because you came in? Through the wall?"

"Dome."

"Oh for the love of god."

"Nah, really, I think that's it," said Lavi, dancing out of the way as Kanda tried to smack him. "My phone fried on contact with the thing. Maybe I picked up some of the magic-y stuff on the way through. Gimme your phone."

"You think I'm going to let you test that on my stuff?" Kanda seethed.

"For the sake of science!"

"Science can go hang itself. You're not getting my phone."

"This can be your excuse for Tiedoll to get you a new one!"

"And how long would it be until I get that new phone? Answer me that."

"You've got a golem, dude! Lighten up!"

Lavi ducked into the Student Union building before Mugen could make contact with his head, cackling as he hurried over to the cafeteria doors. Kanda was only a few steps behind, and nearly ran into him as he stopped by the desk. Just inside the cafeteria doors was the place where ID cards were scanned for the meal plan. And lucky for them (so much sarcasm), the student on duty this morning was Emilia Galmar. Kanda knew the girl from a shared history class. He also knew that she was one of those girls who had an interest in him. In fact, as soon as she caught sight of him, she straightened up in her chair and ran a hand through her hair nervously, a smile lighting her face.

"Oh, good morning, Kanda!" she said excitedly. "I've never seen you come to the cafeteria before."

"So you say hi to Kanda, but not me? That hurts, Emilia. Hurts right here," Lavi said dramatically, patting his chest.

"I see you everyday," she grumbled, scanning his card. She went back to the smile when Kanda held out his own card.

"Is there a reason you're going to breakfast today?"

"Woke up in his room," said Kanda, jabbing a finger at Lavi.

Emilia sent the redhead a glare that could've melted metal, and Kanda took the opportunity to slip into the room unnoticed. He could hear them talking behind him, though.

"He woke up in your room? And I suppose he just so happened to wake up in your bed too, huh? Did you trick him? How dare you, you little…"

"H-hey, it's not like that! He just couldn't get home yesterday, so he crashed with me…"

"Lavi, you are absolute slime! Tell me your secret."

Kanda ignored the rest of that conversation. He grabbed a plate and piled some french toast onto it, and browsed the rest of the limited selection. As he did, he glanced around. There weren't a lot of people up and around this early on a weekend, particularly Saturday, so it was easy to spot the one they were looking for. Link was over by the waffle irons as Johnny had suggested, glaring down at the contraption in disgust. Kanda walked over to him.

"Hey, Two-Spot."

Link looked up. For a moment he seemed surprised, but his face quickly settled into disapproval.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Breakfast," said Kanda, holding up his plate.

"You're never here this early," said Link. He looked back at the waffle iron and muttered, barely audible, "It just doesn't happen. No sense."

"A lot of things don't make sense, do they?" said Kanda.

If what they'd thought was true, Link did have some awareness that things had already happened. At this point perhaps it would be easier to convince him with what he already knew and felt, rather than dumping the situation on him. Kanda didn't think he had the patience to argue with him at the moment.

"What are you talking about?" said Link, looking suspicious.

"Your training," said Kanda.

Link's eyes narrowed. He turned to face Kanda fully and spoke in a low growl, "Who are you to know anything about me?"

"Something like an Angel," Kanda hinted.

"So you're from the Ark," said Link, and he moved into a wider stance. It was so subtle, Kanda barely noticed.

"No, but the Ark's involved," said Kanda.

Link's eyes flicked from Kanda, to Mugen, to the golem.

"Explain."

"Yuuuuu!" With a loud groan, Lavi arrived, draping his arms over Kanda's shoulders and making a disgusted face. "Why'd you have to say that to her? Now she thinks we're together or something!"

"You're not helping matters!" Kanda retorted, hitting him in the gut with Mugen's hilt and taking pleasure in the pained wheeze that followed. "Besides, she'll forget by tomorrow."

Lavi straightened up, clutching his stomach.

"Oh yeah, she will, won't she? Beauty of the situation. Hey Pimpleface."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Link.

"The Ark thing. The day's been repeating itself," said Kanda.

For a moment all three just stared at each other. Then Link rolled his eyes, grabbed his waffle out of the iron, and stalked toward the seating area. Kanda shot Lavi a glare, getting an innocent look in reply. He followed. When Link sat down at a table, Kanda sat across from him. Lavi took the chair right next to the senior and scooted it into the other's personal bubble, much to his annoyance.

"Go away," Link snapped. "I don't know how you know about the Ark, but I'm not amused."

Kanda set Mugen on the table, tilting it up a bit to better show it off (and avoid getting the tassel dunked in syrup).

"This is Innocence," he said.

Link paused to inspect it. He tapped it lightly with his fork and frowned.

"I see no proof."

It was a freaking sword with a black blade and blood red hilt. Did people really wander around campus carrying weapons like that? …Scratch that, with the sheath on it didn't look like it was an actual weapon at all. Kanda touched two fingers to the blade.

"Innocence, activate," he murmured.

He drew his fingers down the sword, and with a hiss, the sheath vanished in a faint glow of green flame. The true blade glinted in the light. Link raised his weird eyebrows.

"I fail to see how that proves anything."

"You didn't see the green stuff? The freaking sword? How is that not proof?" said Lavi.

"You know about my training. Who's to say that's not a weapon like mine?" said Link, popping a piece of waffle into his mouth and chewing.

"Wait, you have a weapon?" said Lavi.

Kanda couldn't remember any weapons used during the training yesterday, but didn't let his confusion show.

"How the hell are we supposed to prove anything, then?" he asked.

"Innocence is parasitic. You claiming that this _thing_," he gestured at Mugen, and Kanda felt rather offended, "is Innocence tells me immediately that one, you have no idea what you're talking about, and two, you think I'm an idiot."

"Yeah, neither. The guy from the Ark was weirded out too, but it's happening," said Lavi. He pulled the hammer out of his pocket and held it up in front of Link's nose. "You know what this is made out of? Blood. Hell of a lot of it, too. Mugen was formed the same way."

"You're both mad," Link insisted.

"We're all mad here!" Lavi quoted, laughing.

"So all we need to do is show you a parasitic type and you'll believe us?" said Kanda. He was beginning to see why Alma (_stop thinking about him_) and Timothy had an easier time convincing him.

"No," Link said carefully.

"Why not?"

"Because you two are probably the last people on earth I'd listen to about anything. Certainly not about something this important. You're unreliable."

"If this is about that time I slept in class, there was a god damn reason," Kanda hissed, seriously beginning to get pissed off. Why had he agreed to this?

"Excuses," came the frosty reply.

"Listen, I don't like you," Kanda snarled, "but we need all the damn backup we can get. I don't care what you think Mugen is, and i don't care what you think of us, but you're a part of this whether you like it or not. You made that clear yesterday."

"Yesterday I was in class," Link sniffed.

"Yesterday wasn't yesterday!"

"Yesterday is always yesterday. That's what makes it yesterday."

"Lavi, Plan B," said Kanda, glaring at the redhead, who looked bewildered.

"Wait, seriously? We're going with Plan B? That was just a joke, dude!"

"I've had enough of this," said Link, standing up again. He'd only gotten partway through his waffle, but apparently he didn't much care.

"Hey, you're not getting away!" said Lavi, hopping up to follow.

Link walked quickly away, and the other two followed. Dishes were thrown haphazardly away, and they passed Emilia on the way out again, ignoring her when she called after them. Link hurried out onto the school green, making a beeline for the Sardini dorm.

"Run all you want, we're going to drag you with us eventually!" Lavi said loudly.

"Try it, I dare you," Link spat.

There was a shriek that made all three of them jump and look around. Over by the music building, a girl had frozen in place on the sidewalk. Her hands covered her face as she stared up at one of the trees, where an old man with long gray hair was strung up by chains wrapped around the trunk. Blood and tattered pieces of his suit lay pooled on the ground below.

"Professor Yeegar?" whispered Link, eyes wide.

"He was dead yesterday, too," said Kanda.

"What?"

"Our Ark guy thinks a Noah killed him. Somebody named Tyki Mikk," said Lavi.

"Mikk?" Link repeated sharply. "The third house?"

Huh. Seemed Link knew more about the workings of the Ark than he'd let on.

"That's what he said," said Lavi.

"Who's this person from the Ark?" said Link.

"He's a parasitic accommodator. Name's Al-"

"Oh my god!" the girl screamed, and an ominous creaking sound caught their attention.

Emerging from around the school building was some sort of metal creature, round, with gun barrels dotting its body and a horned mask. At the sight of it Kanda's grip on Mugen tightened, and he held it up. He could see Lavi doing the same with the hammer.

"The hell is that?"

"You mean to tell me you don't know what an Akuma looks like?" said Link.

"Only level twos came through!" Kanda snapped.

"Yeah, I'm guessing this ugly bastard's a level one?" said Lavi.

"Of course it's a level one! All level ones look the same!" Link yelled.

The girl was screaming again, running backward. The Akuma had been attracted to the noise, and with a loud moan, its gun barrels swiveled to aim. Kanda swore and sprinted forward, but if this Akuma was anywhere near the speed of the others, he knew he'd be too late. He was halfway there when a sharp whistling noise hit his ears.

Wind swept through with a roar, what looked like a cloud of periwinkle surging across the green. It went right past the girl, though its force was enough to make her topple and tumble a few feet. Kanda could feel it tug at his clothes even at this distance. It hit the Akuma dead on. For a moment the creature was visible, buffeted this way and that while the force ripped it apart, but it reached its limit quickly and blew up in a shower of sparks. The wind continued to swirl for a short time, but its power and color dissipated. Kanda stared at the spot for a moment, then turned sharply to look for the source.

A man was striding toward them. He was a bit shorter than Kanda, but much older. His dark hair was slicked back, though some of it had come loose to hang in his face. More importantly, his right arm was taken up from the elbow down with what looked like an armored gauntlet, with a raised vent near the wrist, and studded with dim purple orbs.

"Who are you?" Kanda demanded, brandishing Mugen.

The man gave him a frown, looking him up and down. Kanda didn't like that at all. He hissed and gripped the handle tighter, saying, "Answer now, or you become my enemy."

The girl scrambled up and fled, but neither Kanda nor the man paid her much attention.

"Are you an accommodator?" said the man.

"Yes," Kanda replied shortly. "Are you?"

"I am an Angel," said the man. His arm glowed green for a moment, and the gauntlet vanished, leaving a normal arm in its wake and reminding Kanda of the beansprout. "I heard you talking."

"So… you're an ally?" said Lavi, edging over with Link not far behind.

"That depends on who, exactly, you're taking orders from," said the man.

"I don't take orders from anyone," Kanda growled.

"Unless they push you around," Lavi chuckled, nudging him. Kanda stomped on his foot.

"Why are you here?" said Link, pushing the redhead aside.

The man looked at him as if challenging him. Link glared right back. Kanda felt ignored, and as a result, very annoyed.

"He's investigating the limbo shit, isn't he? That's what the other two came in here for," he said.

"Other two?" said the man.

"Allen and Alma," said Lavi.

The man scoffed.

"So this is where they are. Of course they'd be slacking off…."

Kanda may not have liked the beansprout and despised Alma, but he didn't see how anything they'd been doing could be considered 'slacking off.' Besides, if they'd been slacking off, then Kanda and the others weren't doing much better. He decided to interpret this as a personal insult, and decided he didn't like this man either.

"You know them, then?"

"Unfortunately," said the man. "We're coworkers. Where are they?"

"Are you hoping to team up with them?" said Lavi hopefully.

"No. I'm telling them to pull out."

* * *

Lenalee was on the move early today. She was up and gone before Komui had even woken up, for fear that he would try to stop her from leaving again. Instead she left a note taped to the fridge saying that she was with her friend Miranda, talking over boy troubles. That had kind of backfired, because as soon as Komui got up, he called her cell phone in a panic.

"Lenalee, what's this about a boy?" he sobbed, the shrill of his crying muffled by the speaker.

"It's not my boy," said Lenalee, rolling her eyes and pushing the door open with her free hand. "Miranda went through a bad breakup, and I'm trying to cheer her up."

"I don't even know who this Miranda is! Since when have you known her?"

"Remember when I was on the track team? Miranda's the sprinter from that other school with the blue uniform. She was the one who beat me in the relay," Lenalee lied.

"Oh? I didn't know you kept in contact," said Komui, and she was relieved that his voice was calming down.

"We mainly just text each other, but she's been having trouble with her friends at school, so once the breakup happened, she asked for my help. Can you believe the bastard dumped her over a text?" said Lenalee, eyes scanning the list above her. The employees behind the counter glanced at each other.

"How dare he!" said Komui, though he sounded oddly happy. "See baby sister, this is why men are disgusting pigs and you should never associate with them."

"You're a man too, brother," she laughed.

"But I'm your handsome, amazing, lovable brother. It's the others you've got to look out for. Octopuses, the lot of them."

"You're crazy, Komui."

"That's why I'm a genius. You take care, okay? And say hello to Miranda for me."

"Sure thing. I'll see you later," said Lenalee. Once she heard his acknowledgement she snapped the phone shut and took another look at the display. "Can I get three- no, four boxes?"

"Four? Having a party or something?" said one of the employees, as she set up a box.

"Something like that," said Lenalee with a smile.

"Nothing better than sweets to cure a broken heart, eh?" said the other employee, grinning, and Lenalee simply laughed.

Once a variety had been piled into the boxes, she paid and carried them (with some difficulty) to her car. She was placing them in the backseat when a shiver ran down her spine. Her brow furrowed, and she straightened up again, hand on the door as she looked around. There was nothing strange as far as she could see. Barely anyone was outside, but it was early morning on a Saturday, so that wasn't unusual at all. Why did she suddenly feel so anxious?

"Hey."

She jumped and looked behind her. There was a man standing there, with long, dark wavy hair that curled down the back of his neck. He was wearing some thick framed glasses that looked like they belonged on an old man, with dark brownish eyes behind them that, just for a moment, flashed gold in the light. Lenalee decided he was actually rather attractive… despite the dress shirt that had seen better days (was that blood on his side?) and the brightly colored piggy bank under his arm.

"Uh, hello," she said, leaning a bit to the side to get a better look at the red spot. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. Got stuck in a practical joke," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, for a minute there I was worried. Did you need something?"

"Yeah. I was wondering if you knew where I can get a razor," he said, rubbing his free hand along his chin. "I'm not from around here and my buddy ditched me, so I've got no idea where I am."

"A razor? Well there's a Walgreens a few blocks that way, you can buy one there. You can get directions from them too, if you're trying to find your way back somewhere," she said, pointing to the left.

"Walgreens. Right. I'll probably have enough money for that. Thanks," said the man.

"No problem," said Lenalee.

The man nodded and walked past her. After a few feet, though, he paused and turned around.

"Do you come here often?" he said.

"The bakery? Not really," said Lenalee. Her ankles hurt, and she felt suspicious, but she could be quite a good actress when she put her mind to it. _Play stupid_. "I just saw it and decided I'd get breakfast there. Bring some to my friend, you know. She went through a bad breakup yesterday."

"Did she now?" said the man, feigning interest. "Is this the usual route you'd take to her house?"

"No. But there was some sort of roadblock on Crow Street so I had to change," she said with a shrug.

"Roadblock?" said the man, sounding interested. He pondered for a moment, and his eyes gave her goosebumps. "Right. Well, Walgreens. I know my niece won't appreciate stubble once I get home… Thanks for the info."

"Good luck!" Lenalee called after him.

He turned and started walking again. Lenalee watched him go, and forced herself to move slowly into the car. She started the engine and drove off, again, ever so slowly, like there was nothing to fear. He waved as she passed him, and she faked a smile and waved back. Upon turning the corner, the burning at her ankles lessened, and she let out a sigh of relief. Her golem clicked from its place on the dashboard, and she muttered, "I'll be fine. Really, I'm fine."

* * *

Miranda was more than fine. She was practically glowing. After she'd gotten over her crying spell, she'd gone back to make more pancakes. Unfortunately in her excitement she managed to burn the batter and accidentally spilled the rest of the box on the floor. Allen didn't seem to mind all that much, considering the fact she suspected his stomach of being a black hole. He thanked her for the effort anyway (prompting yet another bout of overjoyed sobbing), and helped her clean up the mess. Of course, that left them to wonder what the hell they were supposed to have for breakfast now.

"We have cereal. Only half the box, but it's something," said Miranda, poking around in the cupboard.

"You can have it," said Allen.

"You're the one who's so hungry," she pointed out, and he shrugged.

"I can skip a meal sometimes."

"There's some canned food if you want that instead," Miranda pressed. "Like ravioli and soups…"

"Maybe…" Allen mused.

A knock at the door made Miranda jump, and she looked at him for direction.

"I think that's Lenalee. Same knocking pattern," he said.

"Oh! She's a bit early today, isn't she?" said Miranda, leaving the kitchen.

Allen followed her into the hall, where she opened the door. Sure enough, it was Lenalee on the doorstep, trying to balance four large boxes stacked in her arms. The neighborhood children were lurking by the car in the driveway, gaping up at the porch like they were witnessing the end of the universe. Of course, Miranda thought, the sight of someone coming to visit the 'bad luck woman' with gifts, and said forever-gloomy woman _beaming_, well, maybe they really did think it was the apocalypse.

"Hello, Lenalee!" she said warmly.

"Hi, Miranda! You look happy today," said Lenalee, her own smile widening in response.

"I am! Come on inside," she said, pulling the door open wider so the girl could get through.

Once the door was shut and Lenalee had set the boxes on the coffee table, she whirled around to face them.

"Okay, I have good news and bad news. Good news? I brought doughnuts."

She pulled the lid off the top box to reveal an assortment of doughnuts inside. Miranda was relieved. So they wouldn't have to eat out of a can that morning! Brilliant! She could hear Allen give a little cheer from behind her. Even if it was a repeat-day, this had to be the best day of her life thus far. A thank you and a gift of breakfast. Maybe her luck wasn't so bad after all.

"That's wonderful! Thank you!" she said, practically singing.

"Yeah, thanks!" said Allen. "But, um… what's the bad news?"

"Er, the bad news… I think I ran into that Noah," said Lenalee, sheepishly.

That thing Miranda just thought about luck? Screw it, she jinxed herself.

"You what?" she screeched.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you at all? Did he follow you?" said Allen, looking panicked.

"No, he didn't. I tried to play it stupid like you told us, and I think it worked!" said Lenalee. "I gave him directions to Walgreens, though. You don't think he's going to do something there, is he?"

"Depends, what's Walgreens?" said Allen.

"It's a drug store. Not very big, but…"

"If Tyki's going to make a scene, he's going to do it so everyone can see. If this place isn't big or important, I think it's safe," said Allen.

"Good," Lenalee sighed in relief. "I started to think he was going to slaughter the workers or something."

"Tyki can be lazy. If the people aren't involved, they'll be safe from him unless they get in the way," said Allen, settling back to normal. "And I don't sense any Akuma around here, so he didn't have any follow you."

"Thank god," said Lenalee.

Her golem flit up to eye level, and its 'eye' flashed. Miranda flinched back as a transparent person appeared before them. It was some wavy haired man with a piggy bank under his arm.

"Yeah, that's him," said Lenalee.

"The Noah?" said Miranda, confused. "But… Allen, didn't you say their skin was gray? And wasn't there something on their heads?"

"This is the so-called 'white' form. It's the dormant state," said Allen.

"So then he really is a Noah?" said Lenalee.

"Yeah. That's Tyki Mikk, no doubt about it," he said.

Lenalee shivered, and Miranda felt a chill down her own spine. As such, when the door swung open and banged off the wall, they all jumped. Miranda nearly lost her balance. Lenalee hopped and her Innocence shot up her legs, while Allen brandished his transformed arm. They all braced themselves, but no enemy entered. No, it was Kanda, stomping in with a mood like a thunderstorm. Link came in behind him, watching warily over his shoulder at the stranger practically breathing down his neck. Lavi brought up the back, looking uneasy.

"W-what was that for? And who is that?" Lenalee said shrilly, and Miranda nodded along rapidly. To barge into her house without so much as a warning, they'd better be explaining something or other! But Allen was already lowering his arm, a shocked look on his face.

"S-Suman?" he said, as if barely able to believe it.

"Walker," said the stranger.

"Uh… you know this guy?" said Lenalee.

"Yeah. Don't worry, he's not an enemy," said Allen.

All Innocence in the room went dormant, and Miranda noticed that the other three relaxed a little bit at Allen's reassurance. Nevertheless, 'Suman's' stony face was unnerving, and Allen didn't look exactly happy. Suman may not have been an enemy, but Miranda had a feeling he wasn't a friend either.

"Why are you here?" said Allen.

"I've come to fix the mess you've created," Suman replied. "It's gotten far out of hand."

"Mess? What're you-"

"Is everybody okay?"

The door bounced off the wall yet again and Alma ran in, Timothy clinging to his back. He stopped short next to Lavi. He glanced from Suman, to Allen, to Miranda, did a quick sweep of the others, then turned his head to give Timothy a look of utter bewilderment.

"Figures you'd be hiding out together," said Suman.

"What do you mean, hiding out?" said Alma. "When did you get here, anyway?"

"I arrived this morning. It's become obvious even in the Ark that the Heart is waking up. My mission is to retrieve it and bring it to safety, while serving as 'clean up' for whatever came in before me. And with you two involved, my hands will certainly be full."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Timothy said loudly.

"It means these two incompetents have a long record of collateral damage," said Suman.

Alma's brow furrowed, and Allen's face twisted. He let out a short hiss of anger.

"I'd like to point out you don't have the cleanest record either," he growled.

"I get things done, quickly and efficiently. Your very presence jeopardizes missions," said the man.

"Then what would you have us do, sit at HQ and peel potatoes while people are out there dying? No way in hell," Allen snapped back. "Innocence chose us for a reason."

"For what reason I can't fathom," said the man, looking around at the lot of them. "It's obvious to me that this is the wrong gathering of Innocence. The pieces you've activated are weak, inexperienced. They stand no chance against an enemy like the Noah. The Vanguard is elsewhere."

"Vanguard?" said Alma, looking angrily curious as opposed to Allen's all-out indignation. "The Vanguard's moving too?"

"Yes. It's none of your concern, though. You've been ordered to return to the Ark," said Suman.

For almost five whole seconds, the room was deadly quiet. And then everyone began to protest at the same time.

"Hey hey, don't you think it's a little hasty to-"

"The hell? Screw you, they're fixing their damn-"

"Please, we need their help here-!"

"You're completely insane! If we leave now, the whole city will-"

"I'm not abandoning-"

Miranda just stood there in stupefied silence. Allen was leaving? Allen _and_ Alma, leaving? But then she and the others would be stranded. They had no guidance, no leader. They needed someone to help them. If those two left, did the others have to go back to their original routines? Would Miranda have to go back to endless November 24th? No, that couldn't happen. They had all made themselves targets. The Akuma knew what they looked like. A Noah knew what Lenalee looked like! They were all sitting ducks! This was like pushing them over a cliff!

"You can't tell them to do that!" she cried, joining the din. "Please, these are our friends! These are the only people who can help us!"

"It was an order from General Cross himself!" Suman bellowed over the uproar, and abruptly, the noise level dropped.

"An order from Master?" Allen whispered.

"Yes. You both need to get back to the Ark within the day," said the man. "If not, there is severe punishment awaiting you."

Allen turned a little green, but choked out, "There's no way out of this place. The Innocence creating the phenomenon won't let us leave, we've tried before."

"Then that's your own problem," said Suman. "But stay out of my way. Do not engage anyone in combat, do not give away your position. Keep your heads down and don't interfere. This will be over with soon enough."

"That's not an option," said Allen.

"You will do as I say and you will like it," Suman said coldly, and there was a look in his eyes that showed nothing but malice. "Do you understand, NeverAngel?"

The chill of his tone made Miranda shudder and cower, and she wasn't even the one he was aiming it at. It was no surprise to her that Allen's anger faltered and he recoiled. His expression settled into something more like reluctant surrender.

"Fine," he muttered, barely audible.

Suman's gaze roved over them, taking in the expressions of rebellion, anger and fear.

"This won't take long. Stay put, and when the dome vanishes, go back to the Ark immediately. If you interfere, I'll have no regrets in taking you out."

With that, he turned and left. The door clicked shut behind him anti-climactically. Everyone stared after him for a while.

"We're not seriously gonna listen to that weirdo, are we?" said Timothy.

"Sadly, I think we are," said Alma.

"Say what?" said Kanda. "You're going to abandon us right after you drag us into this mess?"

"We're not abandoning anyone!" Allen said firmly. "We're not leaving."

"But Allen…" Alma muttered.

"We won't interfere with him is all. We're still going to stick together. We're still going to fight. Just don't let him know about it," said Allen.

"Do you have any idea what he'll do to you if he finds out? Road might even give a kinder death!" Alma hissed.

"Death?" Miranda breathed, feeling faint.

"You guys are on the same side, aren't you? He can't just go around killing his comrades, especially since there's so few of them," said Lavi, but he sounded nervous.

"Suman's been looking for an opportunity to get rid of us for years," Alma said darkly.

"If he attacks us, he's got Master to answer to," said Allen.

"You really think Cross is going to give a crap?"

"I pay his damn debts and whether Suman likes it or not, we're completely capable of doing our jobs. If we bite the dust Cross has to do more work, and he hates work."

"And you think he'll notice why we're gone?"

"Master can be very observant when he wants to be. Besides, he noticed we were gone now, didn't he?"

"Actually, Suman didn't even know you guys were here at first," Lavi said sheepishly, scratching his head. "That was our bad, sorry about that…"

"You were saying?" Alma muttered.

"Master would've noticed eventually," said Allen, but it sounded like he didn't quite believe what he was saying. "Sure, it might've taken a month or two, but…"

"Cross is a bastard and we can't count on him," Alma replied flatly.

"Fine, you're right. But I still say we stay."

"It's not like I don't want to," said Alma, doing a quick glance at Kanda (Miranda had noticed him doing a lot of that), "but Suman's an Angel. He can pick up on Innocence readings a lot better than we can. Hell, he might be able to identify individual signatures. He might know the second we invoke!"

"We say it was for self defense," said Allen. "I mean, it's true, isn't it? Akuma want to kill us. Kill them before they kill us."

"But…"

Allen took three steps and wrapped Alma in a hug. Timothy was still on the other's back and got caught unwillingly in the embrace; he squirmed and pulled a face, but didn't protest more. Alma relaxed a little and hung his head.

"It's going to be fine," Allen said firmly. "Suman can't touch us. There are people here counting on us, aren't there?"

"Yeah."

"We're going to help them."

"Right."

"We're going to defeat all the Akuma."

"M-hmm."

"Buck up or I'll punch you."

Miranda hardly thought that was the proper way to cheer someone up, but it worked. Alma let out a laugh. It sounded a little forced, but it brought the smile back onto his face.

"You have such a way with words."

"I know. But in all seriousness, we'll be okay," said Allen. He held Alma at arms' length and smiled. Alma seemed to brighten a little more, and shrugged.

"All right, fine. You're the boss," he said.

"Good! And the boss says we stay."

"Thank god," said Lavi.

"So what do we do now?" said Lenalee.

"Well… which way did Suman go?" said Allen.

No one knew, and so no one spoke up. Miranda fidgeted and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because we're going to go in the opposite direction!" said Allen, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He walked to the front door and pulled it open. For a moment he froze, and then he slammed it shut again. Miranda was confused by the sheer _speed_ he used.

"Something wrong?" said Alma.

"He left his stupid golem to watch us!" Allen hissed. "Tim!"

There was a rustle, and Timcanpy peeked out of the doughnut box (when had it gotten in there in the first place?). Allen regarded the little gold golem for a short while, eyes squinted and mouth twisted, before apparently deciding and saying, "Get it."

Timcanpy's teeth shone in a manic grin before it zipped up into the air and hurtled toward him. Allen opened the door again, and Miranda barely got a glimpse of another black golem before Timcanpy was upon it. There was a series of crunching, buzzing, and high-pitched beeping before Timcanpy returned, one of the wings dangling from its mouth in a macabre sign of victory. Allen started to coo again.

"Thank you, Tim! I knew I could count on you."

Apparently pleased, Timcanpy perched on his head and wrapped its tail around like a halo, settling in to continue its munching. Allen patted it and turned to beam at the others.

"Okay, we're set! After breakfast, we'll go hunting again!"

"Sounds cool!" said Lavi. "But for breakfast… I call the cinnamon roll."

Well drat. Miranda wanted the cinnamon roll.

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"…It's horrible."

"I imagine it was painful, too. Maybe it's better she didn't live."

There were people talking in hushed tones. It was a useless effort, because it wasn't like the victim could hear them anyway. Maybe it was some sort of respect for the dead. That might make sense.

"It had to be an Akuma."

"Why couldn't it just shoot her? Look at that! Just look at it! Poor girl was ripped apart!"

A tall man leaned against the wall. He was thin, very thin, almost wispy in comparison to the muscled pair nearby. His wiry frame was mostly covered by the dark cloak draped from his shoulders, and he fiddled with the high collar with a gloved hand. His features were sharp, eyes a dark brown, and thin lips rather dark against the rest of his pale face. Most of his hair was black, spiking along the back of his head and forming an odd curl at the sideburns, though there was a long shock of white that fell in front of his face. At this point he looked uncomfortable, and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off what remained of their comrade.

"You're absolutely sure?" he said, timid and quiet.

"Yeah," said one of the others. "That's definitely Kawamura."

What was left of Kawamura wasn't much. It was the majority of her bloodstained skeleton, the bones fractured and smashed in places, in others obviously _gnawed_ on. Some hair and scalp remained, some chunks of muscle and tendon clung to the bones, and one eye was definitely still present, but from the pelvis down the bones were missing, as was half of the ribcage and much of the forearms. It was sickening to look at, and the tall man was turning green.

"How awful…"

"No kidding. I wonder who dumped her here," said the other.

"Dumped?" said the tall man.

"Yeah. If it happened here, there'd be a lot more blood, not to mention the rest of her. Unless they ate those pieces whole."

The tall man shuddered.

"What do you think she did?" said the third member of the group. "She really must've pissed them off if they killed her like this."

"No clue. Was she on a mission? Krory, you know anything?" said the second.

"I think I heard that she was staying away from missions for a few weeks. But wasn't she was keeping an eye on Sachiko in the meantime?" the tall man muttered.

"Oh, Sachiko. Bundle of trouble, that one," snorted the second.

"Isn't she the one who gave us away in June?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Drags people in with her and her schemes."

"Sachiko has been missing for a few days too, hasn't she?" said Krory, and the other two glanced at each other.

"Has she? I didn't notice…"

"It hasn't been long. Only about the same time Kawamura was gone, actually."

"But if Sachiko and Kawamura were together, then where's Sachiko?" said Krory.

A tense silence descended upon them.

"Do you think the Akuma brought her to the Noah?" one of them whispered.

"Then she's dead meat. Nothing we can do," the other grumbled.

"No. What if she's taken to the fifth house?"

"T-the fifth?" the other repeated, alarm on his face now. "if they do that, they'll know everything! Where HQ is, who's involved, all our plans!"

"We have to stop them. Krory, can you go talk to the General? He'll listen to an accommodator. We'll spread the word to the others," said the first.

Krory just about choked on air. He began to stammer in a panic while the others shouldered their bags and started running.

"B-but… Wait! I can't talk to him! I don't even know where he is!"

The others didn't so much as glance over their shoulders, and in no time, they had vanished from sight. Krory stared forlornly after them in the silence, alone with nothing but the corpse for company.

"Cross is a frightening man… No one knows how to find him…"

Apparently poor Krory was screwed.

* * *

The Akuma was in the library. Or, at least, that's what Allen said.

Upon walking in Miranda couldn't see anything abnormal. It was quiet as always. The kind of hush full of the rustling of pages, whispers, and the occasional cough. People could be seen lurking among the shelves, the same as always. The group hovered just inside the doors, looking around warily.

"Are you sure it's in here?" Miranda whispered.

"Yeah," said Allen.

He had a hand over his left eye, hiding it from the normal people. Miranda felt a little uncomfortable with that. How was he supposed to see if the Akuma was approaching if it was covered?

"I dunno, looks pretty normal," said Timothy, not bothering to be quiet at all.

"The Akuma may be going about the body's routine," said Alma.

"Huh?"

"The Akuma is essentially a dark creature wearing the body of a human. When it's first 'born,' it can remember the basic routines and functions of the body it's wearing," said Allen. "And here the body's had quite a few repeat days where the same things have always happened. The Akuma's following that protocol to stay undercover. That might keep it safe from the average accommodator, but my eye never misses Dark Magic."

"Body memory…? That sounds awful," Miranda muttered, unable to resist a shudder.

"Don't worry. We're going to put its soul to rest," said Allen, giving her a small smile.

"Can you pinpoint it?" said Alma.

"Hm…" Allen faced forward again. After a moment he said, "There are three of them. A level two, and a pair of level ones. The level two is at the other end of the building, a bit toward the left…"

"By the big window?" said Lenalee, raising her head.

"Window? I can only see the distance, not the surroundings…" said Allen.

"If it really is near a window, we'll need to hit it fast and cripple it. Keep it from escaping," said Alma.

"Makes sense," said Lavi.

"The level ones aren't as powerful, and a lot more stupid. They'll be less likely to run. Where are they?" said Alma.

"One's upstairs, around our position. The other seems to be along the right wall. Maybe halfway between us and the level two."

"Right. How do we fight them, then? We can't just wave around a giant hammer and hope we don't hit any bystanders," said Lavi.

"Are we going to lure them out somehow?" said Lenalee.

"I don't think that'll work. We just need to get the humans out of here, keep the Akuma contained," said Allen.

"But how do we do that?" said Miranda.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Allen mumbled.

"I think I got this," said Lavi.

Miranda looked back to see a grin spreading over the redhead's face. Kanda was giving him a dubious look.

"And what's your plan for that?" he grumbled.

"Fire alarm!" said Lavi, beaming. He held up his hands, as if waiting for applause. For a moment there was complete silence.

"The alarm…?" Allen repeated, bewildered.

"I never even thought of that," said Lenalee, smacking her forehead. "Lavi, you're a genius!"

And he was. It was so obvious! Why hadn't it occurred to Miranda?

"Once it's pulled we'll have ten minutes max before the authorities get here, and that's cut back by the time people need to get out," said Lavi. "We're definitely going to have to aim for the speedy win."

"It's highly unlikely that we'd be able to destroy three Akuma in ten minutes, especially when we don't know which people they are," Link cut in.

"Then we're counting on you to trap the ones we can't destroy in that time," said Allen.

"Me?" said Link.

"Yes. We can't allow any of them to escape and report to the Noah about us. Think you can manage it?" said Allen.

Link tipped his head to the side and scrutinized him for a while. It was enough time for Miranda to get antsy before he said, at last, "I am more than capable. Flush them out and I'll catch them."

"Great," said Allen.

"Let's get this straight, then," said Alma. "I think we should mark the Akuma. Allen, you take the level two. I'll take a level one. Yu," (Kanda twitched angrily) "Lavi and Lenalee, go after the other level one. Link, Timothy, take the top floor. That'll give you a good vantage point to hit the Akuma, take advantage of that if you can. Miranda, can you get the alarm going?"

Miranda froze. The alarm was vital. It was something even she could do. But for some reason she was terrified to do it. Maybe it was a lesson learned from elementary school? No, more likely it was because she knew she'd muck it up somehow. Someone would see her and stop her, and she'd be kicked out and the others would still be waiting around for the alarm with Akuma lurking in the building and she'd have failed them and they'd hate her forever….

"I can get it," said Lavi, and for a moment she thought he was the most beautiful creature in the universe. "There's an alarm pull on the right wall. We can trigger that and watch the Akuma. Two birds with one stone. There are enough of us going over there."

"You okay with that?" said Alma.

"Yes!" Miranda cheered.

The people nearby looked up in annoyance at the noise. Miranda shrank in shame and muttered apologies. Once the people had gone back to their books, Allen said, "Miranda can stick with me. Sound good?"

"Yes," Miranda replied, much quieter this time.

"Good. Shall we?"

"Yep."

Allen tugged Miranda's sleeve with his free hand, and she followed him as the group broke up. Lavi and the other two wandered off into the shelves ahead, while the rest of them made their way to the stairs. Link steered Timothy away at the top, ignoring the boy's dark muttering. Allen strode down the middle aisle and motioned with his hand. At the signal, Alma slid away. Soon, Allen and Miranda reached the end.

A distinctive feature of this library was the wide gaps in the floor of the second level, allowing a view of the readers and books below. One of these was at the end, a yawning half circle around the huge end window. It showed off the design of the rails in the glass, and opened up the area in a warm glow of afternoon sunlight. Below at the foot of the window was a long cushioned bench, with a gathering of couches facing it in a crescent shape. More people were lounging there, and none of them looked out of the ordinary.

Allen leaned against the railing, finally lowering his hand.

"Which one is it?" Miranda whispered.

"The girl, by the window," said Allen, pointing.

The girl in question actually looked a lot like Lala, but her hair was brown and her eyes might've been some darker color too. She was curled up with a child's picture book, despite looking like she belonged in highschool.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Miranda leaned against the railing too, watching the Akuma cautiously. Several minutes passed, and with each one Miranda got more nervous. Had Lavi been caught and thrown out? Had he run into the other Akuma? Was he waiting for some kind of signal too? She was about to ask about it when the alarm went off. Miranda nearly jumped out of her skin, and even Allen flinched at the grating screech. Some parents began ushering their children toward the door. The rest of the people lingered until the librarians started calling out that it wasn't a drill. They began moving a little faster at that, but continued to grumble. Down by the window, a man with ratty gray hair ran up to the Akuma.

"Sophia, let's go! There's a fire!" he said, but his voice trembled and he didn't seem to want to get too close.

The girl closed her book and said, "There's no fire."

"But the alarm…."

"It didn't happen before. So that means it's caused either by Master Noah or some meddling accommodator."

If Miranda had any doubts this girl was an Akuma, they were all gone now.

"She knows," Allen whispered uselessly.

"Are enough people gone?" said Miranda.

Allen bit his lip. The Akuma girl stood and called, "Master Noah?" Silence answered. The girl frowned. "We're leaving."

"Oh, screw it," Allen muttered.

He hopped on top of the railing and propelled himself off.

"A-Allen!" Miranda shrieked in surprise.

The Akuma looked up. By this time Allen was almost upon her, green flame sweeping away from his armored arm. She darted to the side just in time. The claws ripped right through the cushion and bench, splintering the wood and driving right down into the floor. He ripped it out and spun without missing a beat.

"Accommodator it is," the Akuma said sweetly.

She grinned, and her skin split open. This one was much more humanoid than the pair they'd fought yesterday- It looked like a mummified blue woman, with gold armor and helm that looked oddly mechanical. Its feet were more like flippers than anything, its fingers claws, and sharp golden objects grew from its elbows, curving along the forearm and jutting up like built-in swords. A thick curtain of brown hair remained slipping out of the helmet, and on the abdomen was another twisted white mask.

"You don't stand a chance," it cackled.

"Funny, that's what Tyki said," said Allen, smiling. "I kicked his ass."

The Akuma froze in surprise, and Allen took the chance to strike. He dashed forward and swung his arm, but the Akuma managed to twist away.

"Nice try! There's no way a little weakling like you could beat a Noah!" it crowed.

"Oh no, I _thrashed_ him in poker!" said Allen with a vicious grin.

The Akuma squawked in retort, but was unable to get another word out, as it was too busy dodging the onslaught of attacks. Miranda shook in her spot, flinching as a bookshelf met its demise. She really hoped the other people were outside by now. A loud crack from the right made her jump. Somewhere out of view she could hear shouts and the sound of falling shelves.

"Allen!" Alma's voice came over the communicators, "I can't find the Akuma! The last of the people are almost out!"

Allen jumped back onto the ruins of a couch and raised one arm.

"Tim!"

Timcanpy shot out of his sleeve and circled.

"You've got the data! Help Alma!"

Timcanpy bobbed an affirmative and zoomed up, rocketing past Miranda's head toward the opposite end of the library. The Akuma took a swipe that Allen barely dodged, and he retaliated with a whirl of adamantine claws and a shout of "Cross Grave!" Just like before, a gleaming white cross blazed into existence and drilled itself into the Akuma's chest. She let out a yowl, but instead of fleeing like the others, she charged. Allen met her dead on, and for a moment they were at a stalemate, holding each other at bay.

"Find it, Alma?" Allen grunted.

"Yep!" said Alma, a bit staticky. "Tim's a lifesaver!"

"Good to hear," said Allen.

The Akuma snarled and managed to push him away. It wasn't by much, but it allowed the thing to skitter back for more room. Allen charged again, but the Akuma threw out its arms. It was slight, very faint, and a simple blink would've made Miranda miss it, but she saw some sort of tiny purple light fly out and hit Allen between the eyes. Allen slowed. His arm lowered. Slowly, his face became vacant. Miranda was horrified as he stopped moving altogether and just stood there like a doll.

"Allen! Allen, what are you doing?" she cried.

The Akuma relaxed and giggled. It looked up, and Miranda cowered at its eyes. Unfortunately it seemed the thing got a kick out of it. It laughed again.

"I showed him what he wants more than anything," it said. "You humans are so stupid. One look at the thing you most desire, and you're consumed by it. Even to the point you block out reality."

"No…" Miranda whispered.

"Oh yes. You become easy prey!" the Akuma hissed, and it raised its arm.

"Don't you dare!" Miranda yelled, jumping up again. She grabbed the first thing she could find (a book from the nearby desk) and chucked it as hard as she could. It bounced off the Akuma's head, not hard enough to injure, but enough to annoy. Seething, the Akuma looked back at her.

"You're being a pest."

Miranda couldn't think of a reply and just lobbed another book. The Akuma batted it to the side.

"Asking for an early death? I'll be glad to give it. I won't even have to use my ability on a little worm like y-"

It ended in a pained gurgle. Allen's arm had plunged straight through its chest. He no longer looked lifeless, though his eyes were narrowed and cold.

"I don't… understand…" the Akuma wheezed. "I showed you… I showed you…."

"What you showed me is an impossibility," said Allen, and his voice scared Miranda almost more than the Akuma.

The Akuma grinned again, as if in understanding.

"An impossibility, huh? Interesting…"

It slumped. A few seconds passed, and Allen frowned. Why wasn't it destroyed? But then the Akuma reared back and let out the most terrifying, bloodcurdling scream Miranda had ever heard. It was like something out of a nightmare, only worse- this one was dripping with _malice_. Miranda squealed and ducked down, as if that would lessen the sound. Allen's head snapped to the side.

"More!" he shouted. "More are coming! Five… no, six!"

With a thunder the bookshelves to his left toppled over, something metallic flying out amid the din. Miranda screamed, completely convinced it was an Akuma, but no; it was Lavi's hammer, and it collided hard with the Akuma's head, resulting in a sickening crunch and sudden silence. After some ominous creaking, the Akuma exploded.

"Hey, you okay, beansprout?" cried Lavi, running into the smoke and coughing. "Didn't mean to get ya, but when you're standing that close…."

"I'm not a beansprout!" came the muffled reply.

Another fallen bookshelf shifted and he crawled out from beneath it. Had the force of the explosion tossed him that far?

"The hell were you saying about six more?" said Kanda, running into view with Lenalee on his heels. He was audible even over the continuing alarm.

"I mean that shout must've been a summoning. Six more level ones just got into my range, and they're approaching fast," said Allen, staggering to his feet.

"Shit," Kanda hissed.

"You said the small fries can be real tough to deal with in the first place!" said Lavi.

While he was griping, Allen jerked. He looked up and cried, "Miranda!"

Confused, Miranda looked around. There was a strange man right behind her, with something very zombie-ish about his expression.

"Akuma!" she screeched.

Before anyone could do anything, there was another shout.

"Binding Wings!"

A swarm of small, paper rectangles with odd painted markings shot out and encircled the man, like the rings of Saturn but upright, and exerting some sort of pressure that pinned his hands to his sides. The man twitched, but it seemed that was all he could do. Link was walking up slowly behind him, one step at a time, eyes narrowed and hands pointed at the man in an odd way, with index and middle fingers together, the rest folded.

"You should be more careful," he scolded.

"R-right," said Miranda, still shaken.

A blur of white shot between them, hitting the Akuma. The man exploded, and Miranda whimpered and shielded her face from the wave of heat. Alma touched down nearby and threw a salute.

"Good one, Link!" he said.

Link scoffed.

"Miranda! Miranda, are you okay?" Allen yelled from below.

Miranda leaned over the rail and gave a faint smile.

"Y-yes… it's a good thing the others were here," she replied.

"Good…" he said, shoulders sagging in relief.

"Uh, Allen? Akuma?" said Lavi.

"Yeah… They're coming up the main stairway."

"To the stairs!" said Lavi, running off.

The others disappeared after him. Miranda scrambled up and followed Link and Alma as they sprinted to the other end. Timothy was already waiting there, practically jumping up and down in glee.

"They're coming, they're coming, they're coming!" he squealed.

Apparently the Akuma didn't even bother with stealth this time. They came surging into the library in their true forms, and didn't hesitate or bother to aim before shooting everywhere.

"Get down!" said Alma, forcing them down behind him.

Miranda hit the floor and covered her head, watching in horror. Lavi's hammer grew to the point where he and Kanda could shelter behind it, and Allen's arm grew in kind, enough to shield Lenalee while he ducked behind Kanda. The bullets pinged off the hammerhead, but ripped through shelves and tables, even tearing apart sections of the stairs. The volley was relentless.

"How are they supposed to avoid being shot?" said Miranda.

In response, Alma jumped into the air. He spun, and for a moment he looked like Lenalee as his foot dug into one of the Akuma's armor. The next moment he grabbed the horns with one hand and proceeded to punch it repeatedly in the mask with the other. The Akuma screeched and exploded. In the brief cover of smoke, the others scattered and the free-for-all began. Miranda had trouble following any of them in the mess, but by the look of Link's eyes, he was keeping track very well. Timothy just looked lost. Things only got worse when, as predicted, the authorities arrived.

"Freeze!" cried a woman in police uniform, running into the library. She paused in shock at the scene, but kept her gun up and face inscrutable. Her partner ran in too, but almost dropped his gun in his own surprise.

"M-Moa!" he squeaked, "What is that?"

"How should I know?" she snapped back.

"They're Akuma!" Allen yelled. "You can't do anything against them, just run!"

"They're what?"

One of the bullets went astray. Allen tried to catch it, but the thing slipped through his claws. It struck the policeman in the chest, and he fell over, wheezing. Miranda couldn't see for sure, but she could hear him coughing, and knew the virus was seeping into him. The woman knelt down beside him.

"Charles! Charles, are you okay?"

The man gasped, and crumpled into dust. The woman stared in disbelief.

"Ch-Charles?"

"Leave!" Allen yelled.

"You're only getting in the way, woman!" Kanda snarled, knocking a bullet away with Mugen.

Another Akuma exploded, and the woman seemed to come to her senses. She struggled to her feet, took one last look, and hurried away, muttering into her radio about a cop down and fighting in the library. Miranda had a bad feeling about that.

"Binding Wings!"

Link caught another one, just in time for Lenalee to swing through and destroy it. As the cloud for that one cleared, more uniforms came into the building.

"Sir," said the woman, Moa, looking very uneasy as she trotted right back in, "are you really sure about this?"

"Of course, officer!" said a short, fat man with a piggy face. "No one can defeat the Mater Police Department!" He faltered at the sight of the remaining three Akuma, but cried, "Get 'em!"

After slight hesitation, the other police in the group began to shoot. The bullets bounced off of the Akuma, causing the accommodators to veer off to avoid getting hit.

"Guns don't work on them!" said Allen. "Please, get-"

There was another onslaught of bullets from behind the group, hitting a good many of the officers and turning them to dust. Another Akuma had appeared there. With a howl of rage, Allen tore through it. Timothy cackled and went limp. One of the Akuma suddenly grew new patterns, waves and pastel color instead of cracks and gray. It directed its cannons at the others and shot madly. One of them exploded, but the other evaded, only to be stabbed with Mugen. The last giggled and began to crumble into white dust as Timothy stirred again.

"I'm getting better at this!" he laughed.

"Is that the last of them?" said Lavi, shouldering his hammer.

"Yeah, as far as I can tell," said Allen, and his eye reverted to normal.

"Get them!"

They all jumped and looked around. The pig-faced man was pointing at them, enraged.

"Get them!"

"Sir?" said Moa.

"They're the ones who got our boys killed! Get them!"

"But…"

"Now!"

Moa glanced at the remaining officers, but only got shellshocked looks in response.

"Hey, we told you to get out of the way, you just didn't listen!" said Lavi, wide-eyed. "You can't just…."

"Get them!"

The officers began to move, and Lavi gulped.

"Run for it!"

"Window!" cried Allen.

And they all fled, Miranda and the other two doing the same on the second floor. The end window smashed under Allen's arm, and the boy leapt out with a shout. Lavi hopped after him, Kanda just behind. Miranda was too high up. She tried to slow, to figure out how she was going to escape, but suddenly there was a tugging at the back of her shirt and her feet left the ground. Arms shifted around her waist, and she realized Lenalee had picked her up and was rocketing out the window. Alma snagged the other two, tucking them under his arms, and leaped out as well. They descended quickly onto the lawn. The people had evacuated here at the alarm, and there was no doubt they'd seen and heard some of the struggle, but Miranda was still surprised when, as soon as they touched down, the people closed in, angry and scared and demanding to know what was going on. Miranda shrank back against Lenalee in fright, while the girl lashed out with her fists, trying to beat them back.

"Get out of the way!"

"Back off!"

"Move it before I cut you in half!"

And then, there was empty air next to them. Allen, Lavi and Kanda had forced a clear space. Allen's arm was bracing against the crowd, giving them the room to slip in between their companions. Alma and the others scooted in as well. Once they were all gathered, Lavi's hammer grew again, and he used it to plow through the people. Allen and Kanda took the sides and back, keeping anyone else at bay. By the time they reached the end of the swarm, the police had exited the building.

"There they are!"

"Go, go, go!" Allen yelled.

They broke formation and fled as fast as they could. Miranda shrieked at the sound of gunfire behind them, and Link swore as a bullet clipped his fringe.

"So," Alma panted as they went, "what're the odds Suman doesn't hear about this?"

"Shut up."

* * *

And we finally hit the 'thank you' in this chapter. It was so important to Miranda in the manga and anime, that Allen was the first person to ever say that to her; I'm a little surprised that's not been mentioned at all later in the series. She seems fond of him, but with the power those words had at the time, I feel like there should be more there. Which was why I wanted them to have this kind of relationship in the story here: Allen is one of the most important people in Miranda's life, and has never doubted her or brought her down. For someone with her personality, I think that's huge.

And yes, Allen already has that big old scar. Spoilers. :)

Now everyone seems to know who the men in Miranda's dream were, but I won't actually type out their names, for the sake of new readers...

And dear god there are a lot of you hoping for some romance between Miranda and Allen. I was actually trying to avoid pairings. If that's where the story takes me I'll go with it, but I suck at writing that kind of stuff!

Thanks to everyone for the reviews! You really make my day!


	10. Clockmen

In comparison to other dreams, this one was actually pretty good. It had no haunting song, no darkness, and no one dying or in pain. It was just… Allen. Or maybe it could've been his ghost.

He was completely washed out, skin and clothes white as his snowy hair, eyelashes much longer and thicker than in reality. He seemed to be wearing a skin-tight shirt with no sleeves, which showed off, quite clearly, that his left arm was missing from the clayish part down. The only color on him was the red of the rings in his strange eye. But despite the missing arm, he seemed content. His mouth was moving, body swaying just slightly, and his arm and stump made sweeping gestures. They created a rhythm, and Miranda knew he was singing. Whatever it was, the song must've been beautiful.

She would've been happy with just the soundless melody, but the dream took a turn. Allen put his hand to his chest, curled his fingers, and pulled it away. There, in his palm, lay a beating heart. He crushed it and laughed, horribly and brokenly.

* * *

Miranda sat bolt upright and stared straight ahead. It took her a good few seconds for her to realize she was actually awake, and when that sank in, she let out a shuddering sigh and rested her head on her knees.

So much for good dreams… ever since the start of the damn rewind, her dreams had gotten dark and generally unpleasant. For a moment she wondered if it was just an effect of the 'dome' Lavi had talked about, but cast that aside immediately. If everyone was having weird dreams, they would've mentioned them, at least. No, it was much more likely that her luck had just sunk to a new low.

Heaving a sigh, she climbed out of bed and got dressed. Once done with that she opened the door, ready to greet Allen with a morose 'good morning.' Alas, twas not to be. Alma went crashing into the doorjamb, scaring her half to death. In all honesty he looked a bit surprised to see her too, but his attacker paid her no attention.

"What have you got in your damn head, rabbit crap?" Kanda hissed, seizing his collar and shaking him back and forth. "That is the worst god-damn…"

"Hey, I didn't take a dump in anybody's head!" said Lavi, worming his way in between them, though it was a tight squeeze. "Morning, Miranda."

Miranda held up a hand in greeting, though her face was probably still stuck in 'what the hell.'

"I didn't do anything!" Alma growled, wrestling with Kanda's hands and kicking at his hip. "You're the one who's too stubborn…"

"It's a stupid plan!"

"You think everything's stupid unless you think of it!"

"Break it up!" Lenalee screeched from down the hall. Link looked over her shoulder, looking even more reproachful than usual.

"Um… When did everyone get here?" Miranda mumbled.

"Like half an hour ago," said Lavi, gagging when his ribs were crushed by the sheer force the others were using to get at each other. "Allen told us to be quiet since you were sleeping, but obviously that didn't- Hey! Guys it's not funny I _can't freaking breathe_!"

Kanda didn't seem to care about the panicked wriggling, but thankfully, someone did.

"Children!"

As he was a few days ago, Kanda was again trapped by Allen's arm. Allen actually picked him up and carried him away, steadfastly ignoring the struggles and insults thrown at him. Miranda followed as he dumped the older onto the couch. Allen turned to frown at Alma and said, "I expected better from you."

Alma looked indignant at being the one singled out.

"What's that supposed to mean? All I did was suggest something completely sensible and he tried to kill me! How am I in the wrong?"

"Because Kanda's a boor, it's expected," Allen said breezily, and Kanda's glare must've made the room drop five degrees. "Don't stoop to his level."

"What did you say?" Kanda seethed.

"You're a _boor_. Honestly, it's a wonder you understand human speech."

"I will grind your bones into dust!" he roared, pouncing.

Allen hadn't expected this, and was knocked flat on the floor. His transformed arm scrabbled on the floor in confusion for a moment, leaving deep gouges before changing back. Miranda honestly didn't know what to think about the impromptu wrestling match.

"Uh… should I make pancakes?" she asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Actually, I brought breakfast again today," Lenalee said sweetly, kicking the yowling match when they rolled too close. The resulting yelp was high pitched, and Miranda couldn't identify the owner. "Everyone seemed to want cinnamon rolls yesterday, so I went and got a whole bunch of those."

Glory glory hallelujah.

"Thank you!" Miranda sang.

"No problem! I left them on the coffee table again. We can eat it now if you want," said Lenalee.

"That would be brilliant," said Miranda.

She followed Lenalee around the couch as Lavi kicked Kanda for spite. She grabbed a napkin and roll and was about to take a bite when she saw something truly horrifying. Alma had attempted to break up the fight. He grabbed Kanda around the chest and heaved him up and away, despite the other fighting it. Allen scrambled to his feet and threw one more insult. In response Kanda lifted both feet off the ground and kicked him as hard as he could. Right. Back. At. The. CLOCK.

Miranda didn't know whether to cry out for Allen or the clock. Instead she dropped her roll and let out an unintelligible noise of terror.

It was like slow motion. Allen's eyes widened, the breath was knocked out of him, he stumbled back and lost balance, falling right back into…. He vanished. _The clock ate Allen_. Miranda didn't know how, but it had just happened. Everyone stared, and there might've been yet another plate dropped.

"Uh, Miranda," Lavi said in a stage whisper, "That's not an Akuma clock, is it?"

"Of course it's not! It's…"

"Look!" said Timothy, lowering his roll and pointing at the clock. "It's a clockman!"

And before their eyes, Allen's head stuck out the top, and his hands straight out from the sides. His face looked nonplussed, and he blinked owlishly.

"A-Allen?" said Lenalee.

"My clock!" Miranda moaned piteously.

Allen looked down at his hands and flexed them, then grinned.

"I really am a clockman!" he said, beaming.

Timothy cracked up laughing, but the others were still weirded out. Kanda didn't even seem to realize Alma was still holding him up.

"I don't get it…" said Alma.

Allen chuckled and all his limbs retreated inside the clock again. After a moment the clock face rippled, and his head and shoulders stuck out there.

"Look! See? I can't touch it!"

Touching or not, Miranda wasn't sure she liked her clock used like that. She whimpered as Lavi inched closer.

"That… that thing's still solid though, right?" he muttered.

"Yes and no," said Allen, and the entire thing wavered as he stepped out of it. He stuck a hand in as another test, and the limb vanished from the elbow down. But that same portion went and stuck out of the clock's face, clenching and relaxing.

"Whoa… Hey, isn't that kinda like what the dome's doing?" said Lavi.

Allen laughed again.

"Yeah. See, this clock's being very selective about who touches it. I know it's solid for Miranda, but I've never seen anyone else touch it before. The dome's picky too, lets some people through and stays solid for others."

"Hang on. Are you saying…" Lenalee muttered.

"Miranda, I think your clock is Innocence," said Allen. "And not just any Innocence, _the_ Innocence! I think this is the cause of the rewind!"

"A clock? That actually makes a lot of sense! Turn back time and all," said Lavi, moving even closer now that he was sure it wasn't going to attack and squinting at the carving.

Miranda's mind was in a whirl. Innocence? _Innocence_? So all those times she'd believed in fate, in some sort of will of the clock, all the enchantment she'd associated with it had been because it was Innocence? So if someone else had picked it up, it would've done the same? She wasn't unique at all?

Through the haze in her mind, she asked, dully, "What do we do with it?"

"Break it," said Kanda, jerking violently away from Alma, and despite herself Miranda was alarmed. "Chop it to pieces so it can't rewind anymore."

"Something tells me it would kick your ass if you tried fighting it. I've already heard about your experience with the dome," said Alma.

Kanda scowled and made as if to strangle him, but Allen interrupted, "He's right, you wouldn't be able to touch it. Besides, this is Miranda's."

"Well yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" said Miranda. She couldn't remember ownership being a big deal with Lala, after all.

"It's the reason you're unaffected. I think this Innocence is yours."

"I don't…."

"Miranda, I think this Innocence has chosen you as its accommodator. That's why you can touch it. That's why you remember. I can't say for sure, but I think it's been slowly synching up with you."

Miranda was stunned. Her? Innocence? Impossible. She couldn't fight at all. Frankly she was terrified of the situation. If Innocence was really as intelligent as she believed, it would know that. It would pick someone strong. Someone… someone not Miranda.

"Hey Miranda, try it! Maybe you can get it to stop!" said Lavi.

The others murmured assent, and Miranda found herself slinking forward. Maybe they were right? Maybe this Innocence had actually seen something in her? Something proving she wasn't worthless? She lay her hands on the clock. It was solid and cool under her fingers, the same as it had always been. She took a deep breath and said, "Um… clock… would you please be a dear and stop the town rewinding? It's gotten rather problematic and I think it would be best if it stopped."

They all waited with bated breath, but there was no grand change. Nothing to show anything had happened. in fact, she felt rather chided.

"Well that didn't work," she grumbled.

"I kind of expected that," said Alma.

Immediately he was the center of attention.

"What do you mean?" said Miranda.

"The Innocence may have been synching up with you, but it activated on its own. While it's independently working, it's distanced. You're still synching, just at a snail's pace," said Alma.

"So how synched am I?" she murmured.

"Thirty percent is generally the point for weaponization. So… somewhere below that. Once you hit thirty it'll actually merge with you, like my Lotus or Lenalee's boots," said Alma.

The memory of Innocence weapons forming made Miranda shudder. Maybe Alma misunderstood it, because he put a hand on her shoulder like Allen had done before, and said, "It's okay. Mine was activated on its own at first, too. It takes a long time, but I think it's worth the wait."

"Did it hurt?" she whispered, rubbing at the cross-shaped burn on her hand.

Alma's face blanked, then became sympathetic.

"It wasn't the Innocence that gave me pain," he said, so quietly only she could hear. "If anything, it protected me."

Miranda nodded, though she didn't understand. She stiffened up, terrified, as she realized Kanda was glaring at her. What had she done to deserve that kind of look?

"So again, what now?" said Lavi, stealing everyone's attention (Kanda's included, much to Miranda's relief). "Is there some way we can make her synch faster? Anything we can do now that we know the cause?"

"Essentially, we just carry on like we have been," said Allen. "If it's going to keep synching anyway, Miranda will eventually reach the point where she can control it entirely and take down the dome. Might as well be constructive in the meantime, right?"

Miranda was thoroughly unconvinced that she'd synchronize, and doubtful of her abilities even if she did, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. This news had given the others hope, she could see that clearly. She couldn't bear to be the one to destroy that hope.

* * *

Kanda didn't know why he was so pissed off.

Sure, he hated Alma. Especially when Alma suggested something so stupidly obvious (using a golem's recordings to coerce Link into believing them everyday) they should've used it from the beginning, because why hadn't someone mentioned they had that option before? Torture, obviously. He hated the beansprout too, for being a stupid weird _thing_ that could somehow withstand (and return) Kanda's attacks and insults despite looking so weak, even to the point of pushing him around.

Yes. He hated them both and the two were kind of destined to ruin his day, but why should he care if Alma started doting on Miranda like everybody else? Even if Alma was _his_ imaginary friend first…. Damn. He sounded like a jealous kid, even in his head. This had to be remedied. Therefore, he must somehow hate Alma more. Because that always worked before.

"Kanda. Hey. Kanda."

"What?" he snapped.

Lavi blinked back at him.

"How do you know Alma, anyway?"

"None of your god damned business," Kanda huffed, turning away.

"It is my damn business if you two try to smother me again. Just let me know what to tiptoe around," said Lavi.

Kanda, on the other hand, knew 'tiptoe around' meant 'dive right in' in this case.

"I said it's none of your business."

"You sure? We're all curious," said Lavi, gesturing at the others. "Even Allen doesn't know why you guys are so pissy, and Alma won't spill anything."

Should Kanda be angry or grateful? Angry. Definitely angry.

"And it's _none. Of. Your. Business_." With every word he poked Lavi's chest, the last one hard enough to make the other stumble backward. "So stop asking, or I'll kick your ass."

"You keep talking about my ass…."

That was it. Kanda plucked his golem out of the air and hurled it. The thing bounced off Lavi's head with a solid _thunk_ (nearly knocking him over), and ricocheted up toward the others. Miranda shrieked as it whistled past her ear, and Link ducked his head to the side just enough for it to miss him. It slammed into the back of the beansprout's neck, causing him to jump and make a gagging sound. Timcanpy shot out of his collar, practically snarling with rage. Kanda swore and shoved past Lenalee in a ditch attempt to rescue the damn golem. The black golem panicked and fled like before, but this time Timcanpy was fueled by righteous anger, and it didn't get far. The gold golem caught it in its mouth and clamped its jaws shut against escape. Before it could actually chomp down on the protruding wings, Kanda and Alma tackled it. Timcanpy thrashed and hissed, but they fought to get its mouth open, pinning its wings and tail in the meantime. The beansprout shouldered his way between them and shoved the fingers of his red hand between the pointed teeth. He forced Timcanpy's mouth open just enough for Kanda's golem to escape and hide in his jacket again. Kanda could feel it shuddering against his neck as the beansprout shoved Timcanpy down his own coat and fought to keep it there.

"Try to keep an eye on your golem, please…" the beansprout grumbled, glaring.

"Keep yours on a leash or something," Kanda snapped back.

"You just need to stop throwing them!" said Alma. He snatched up Lavi's golem and waved it in Kanda's face. Unlike Kanda's, this one's 'eye' remained static and uninterested despite the manhandling. "Do you have any idea how expensive and tedious it is to make just one of these? Every time you throw it, you could be messing up its functions! The equipment is delicate!"

"It's meant for battle, isn't it? It's bound to get rattled at some point!" Kanda hissed.

"That doesn't mean you should add more stress to it!"

"It's fine! Aren't you, stupid golem?"

The golem just shivered more, whirring in distress.

"You're scaring it!"

"It's a machine, dumbass!"

"Hey!" Lenalee shouted, stomping up to them. "Aren't we already in the middle of something? Cut it out!"

"In the middle of what, exactly? Playing follow-the-freaking-beansprout?" Kanda retorted. It had been half an hour since they'd left the cars, to follow the beansprout through a maze of back alleys. He'd kept insisting that they were following an Akuma, but the more they walked, the more Kanda came to the conclusion that the kid had no clue where he was going. It was insult to injury when that eye went normal again. "Because it's worked out so well today!"

"You think you can do better?" said the beansprout, miffed.

"Oh hell yeah I can," said Kanda, stepping up to him.

They glared at each other. Kanda debated the wisdom of punching the bastard in the face. A black eye might just be worth being tossed into the dumpster.

"How's this. Somebody neutral will pick the next route," said Lenalee.

"Yeah, we lost the Akuma just now, didn't we?" said Lavi, rubbing his head ruefully.

The beansprout didn't say anything, but his flustered expression was answer enough.

"Fine. Somebody, pick a street," Alma sighed.

Lenalee walked up to the fork ahead, and Lavi and Timothy trailed along behind her. They looked from the faded lettering on the left path, to the cat licking itself on the right.

"That way."

Lavi and Lenalee stared at each other in surprise, then at the same time, pointed in the direction the other had pointed before.

"That way!"

"Oh for the love of god…" Kanda grumbled.

"I know how to settle it!" said Timothy.

"Oh yeah? How's that?" said Lavi.

"We play Rock-Paper-Scissors-Kanda!"

Somewhere in the depths of his brain, Kanda heard something like screeching tires. His entire thought process froze and threatened to crumble.

"Rock-Paper-what? How the hell do you play that?" said Lavi.

"Simple, Jean taught me. Rock beats scissors," he did the classic 'rock' and 'scissors' gesture, "Scissors beats paper, paper beats rock. Then there's Kanda." He held out one hand with the fingers spread and thumb tucked in, so it very, very vaguely formed a K. "Kanda throws rocks, rips paper, and trips when running when scissors!"

Lenalee let out a giggle, but fought to keep her face straight. Lavi just burst out laughing. Miranda chuckled before clapping her hands over her mouth, while Link outright sniggered. Alma was practically rolling around in mirth. The beansprout gaped, then rounded on Kanda.

"You see what you do to young minds?" he shrieked, gesturing madly at Timothy. "You _screw_ with them!"

"How the hell is that my fault?" Kanda roared. "And you!" Timothy jumped, and his smirk faltered. "I'll show you who trips when running with scissors!"

Timothy squeaked and fled, and Kanda followed, waving Mugen above his head.

"H-hey!"

"Kanda, what're you…"

"Stop!"

The cat scrambled out of the way as they all stampeded down the alley.

Kanda had to hand it to him, this kid could run like a bat out of hell. He darted left and right down other passageways at the earliest opportunities, hoping to throw him off, but Kanda was still faster, and he was gaining quickly. He was almost close enough to wring that scrawny little neck when the beansprout shouted something. Timothy looked back to hear better, and his face went terrified at their proximity. Kanda grinned viciously… and then they ran smack into someone. Their combined momentum sent them all sprawling. Mugen almost fell out of Kanda's hand, but he tightened his grip at the last second. He pushed himself up and shook his head, trying to regain his senses.

The person they'd run into was a chubby woman dressed in black lingerie, a collar and tie at her neck and fishnet tights and high heels on her legs. Stranger still, she wore a grinning teddy bear mascot's head, a bow at one of the ears. There was a sign for a brothel or something dropped beside her.

Kanda immediately got some bad vibes, and despite trying to kill the kid earlier, he grabbed Timothy by the scruff and yanked him away. Timothy made some noises of disgruntled protest, but didn't fight it at all. In fact, he tugged at Kanda's sleeve, trying to get him even further away. The woman pushed herself up and appeared to be regaining her sense of balance when Lavi's voice reached them.

"Grow, grow, grow!"

The hammer came zooming past, nearly clipping Kanda's side before the handle bent. The head went crashing, spike first, into the woman's stomach, and slammed her into the wall. Dark blood splattered onto the brick. Timothy whimpered and backed up into Kanda. Kanda himself was shocked until the beansprout shouted, "Get back! It's the Akuma!"

He swore and shoved Timothy behind him, as the woman began to change. The teddy bear's smile turned into a hungry, gaping maw, the ears produced teeth, and there was a tail and odd markings coming to light as well. The body bulged, wrapping around the hammer and keeping it stuck in place regardless of Lavi's struggles. The teddy bear head swiveled around, gleaming red eyes fixing on Kanda before it hissed, "Accommodators!"

The Akuma began to bloat to enormous size, twisting around the weapon and beginning to drag itself toward them.

"Filthy, filthy accommodators!"

"Out of the way!"

Kanda flattened against the opposite wall at Lenalee's shout, Timothy sticking to him like a bur. Back down with the others, Lenalee had her Innocence activated. She took one hop, two, and then spun, kicking out and crying, "Waltz! Misty Wind!" And with that sweep of her foot came a gust of howling wind, followed up by another one from the other foot. Unlike the rush Suman had created, these surged like tornadoes, aimed right at the Akuma and sparking with an odd greenish lightning in places. The creature yowled as they hit, and entire chunks of its body were ripped apart.

Kanda thought he saw an opening. Come to think of it he really wasn't thinking, but at that point he had complete confidence that it would work. He sprinted forward, right into one of the tornadoes. Immediately he was swept up in it, feet leaving the ground and hair whipping about in his face. He couldn't see a thing and his sense of equilibrium was shot to pieces, but something told him he was on the right track. He twisted his body as it flipped again and again, pulled back Mugen, and swung it like a baseball bat, as hard as he could. And somehow, with some amazing luck, the tornado managed to twist him into just the right position, gave just enough power, to send him right into the Akuma and cleave it in half. The head snapped a few more times, and then the entire thing exploded, the pieces caught in the same gust as Kanda. He hissed as a few chunks scraped past, and then the tornado lost its power. The wind was suddenly gone, but Kanda was still going. He hit the ground and tumbled head over heels. It must've been several feet, because by the time he'd executed his last botched logroll, he was sore all over and horribly dizzy. He blinked, attempting to regain his senses. His vision swam, but just down the next alley, he could see someone who looked oddly familiar. A few seconds more, and he realized why.

"Akuma!" he shouted, attempting to push himself up, but his head was still spinning so he slumped right back down.

The girl ahead looked exactly like the one from the library yesterday, the one who'd turned out to be a level two. He'd caught a glimpse of that one before the fighting started. This girl even had the same old man with gray hair lurking behind her.

"Oh for god's… Can anyone not see the god damn Akuma!" he yelled.

"Don't worry, we've got it!"

And someone jumped right over his head. The thought made his blood boil a bit, but at least someone was catching the damn thing. It turned out to be Alma, Innocence activated. Alma sprinted down the alley and threw a punch. His fist went right through the girl's face, and after a moment, she exploded. Alma darted out of the blast, smoke trailing behind him, and circled around the back of the old man as he tried to turn and run. In no time, his tail had lengthened, wrapping around the man and picking him up off the ground. It seemed effortless on Alma's part, but the man yelped and wriggled desperately.

"Let me go! Let me go! Please, I beg you, let me go!" he wailed.

The beansprout hopped over Kanda's form as well, jogging over to Alma, and Kanda bit back some curses. More of the others filtered around him, but Lenalee was the one who knelt down next to him and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Does it look like I'm okay?" he grumbled.

"No, but maybe that'll teach you not to walk right into my attack," she said with a huff.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"But it scared us half to death!"

Kanda grumbled nonsense under his breath. Lenalee pouted for a few seconds, but rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulder to heave him up.

"Come on, up you go. Lavi, can you help?"

"I can stand on my own," Kanda said quickly, pushing away the redhead before anything else could be said. "Just leave me alone and-"

His knees wobbled precariously and he nearly fell over. Lavi caught him and the two straightened him up with little difficulty. Lenalee looked annoyed at his stubbornness, but Lavi seemed entertained. Kanda had to resist the urge to slap him when that grinning face leaned closer.

"What's wrong, too manly for help?" he laughed.

No. It was just humiliating to be helped by a stupid rabbit of all things. Especially when he could stand in the first place.

"Get lost," he snarled, attempting to kick Lavi in the shins, but it appeared standing on one leg was beyond his capabilities. He ended up toppling over onto Lenalee. She caught him just in time.

"Boys," she muttered darkly. "At least you're not octopuses…"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean…"

"He smells funny," said Alma. It was an odd piece of the conversation that had actually reached Kanda's ears, and he looked over in confusion. Alma and the beansprout were inspecting the old man they'd caught, Alma confused, and the beansprout pensive. "I'm serious, he smells like something familiar, something bad."

"I don't know about a smell… but I definitely saw this man yesterday, in the library," said the sprout.

"Did you?"

"He was with the level two."

"Really?"

The man whimpered as the tail shifted, bringing him closer to Alma so the freak could sniff him better. A couple of whiffs later, Alma held him further away, face twisted as if he'd just smelled a sewer.

"Ugh. It's… it's something dark. Nasty. It's…"

And Alma's eyes widened. He sent the beansprout a panicked look. The beansprout blinked back at him in confusion, but gradually, his face began to show surprised understanding. He looked back at the man with wide eyes, muttering, "Something dark… Of course…" One more look at Alma seemed to confirm it, and the beansprout's expression changed to something a bit more fearsome.

"You're a Broker, aren't you?"

There hadn't been much talking among them before, but at those words, all the noise stopped.

"B-Broker?" Miranda repeated, horrified.

The man began to tremble.

"A-are you Angels, then?" he whispered.

"Yes," said Alma.

"Why did you agree to be the Millennium Earl's pawn?" said the beansprout. "Do you have any idea what kind of disasters you've brought on, pulling Akuma into this world?"

"I had no choice!" said the man, eyes watering. "That man… he said he'd take my daughters. He said he would kill them! I had no choice! I wanted to keep them safe! but now they're gone! Both turned into Akuma, both gone!"

"You made your own daughters sign a contract? You made your own daughters into Akuma?" the beansprout hissed.

"I didn't! It was one of the others!" the man sobbed.

"Others?"

"I didn't know… I didn't know until this morning! I don't know if I knew before! But both my daughters were dead, their bodies used by Akuma… and one was even destroyed in the last 'today!' I don't know what's even happening anymore! I want it all to stop!"

The man was weeping pathetically. Yeah, he was allowed to cry over his daughters, but to make such a disgusting scene?

"Tell us who the others are," said the beansprout.

The tone of his voice made the man look up again.

"What?"

"I said tell us who the others are."

"But…."

"Do you want more people to turn out like your daughters?" the sprout growled. When the man flinched, he forced his face to soften and said, quieter, "What do you have to lose now? Isn't this what you want? To stop any other fathers from losing their children this way? We can stop the person who did this to them. Please, help us."

The man was very still. Slowly and warily, Alma set his feet back on the ground and unwound his tail. Without its support the man wavered, but he stood all the same, head bowed. He heaved a deep sigh, and looked up at them all with dim, tired eyes.

"You can make it stop?" he whispered.

"Yes, but only if you help us," said the beansprout.

Another sigh, and he said, "Fine, I'll help you. Do you have some paper? I can write down the names…."

"Paper?" said the beansprout, looking pleadingly around. "Does anybody have-"

"Lucky for you I'm always prepared!" said Lavi, shifting Kanda's weight fully onto Lenalee and digging in his pockets. He'd always had a weird habit of carrying a pencil and paper with him everywhere for no real reason, something supposedly beaten into him by his grandfather, if Kanda's memory was correct. Sure enough, he unearthed a folded scrap of looseleaf from under his bandana, and a mechanical pencil from his jacket. He offered it over and the man took it. The pencil scribbled over the paper as he spoke.

"There are only four of us that I know of. The contracts told us to pull in as many Akuma as we could in a day. If we passed out, we simply had to continue when we woke up," he explained. "I never met the others face to face or had communication with any of them. These are the names I got from the man who made me a Broker in the first place."

"Do you know who this man was?"

"Not really. He was in the mirror… but his skin was gray, if that means anything."

Lenalee's golem floated over and its eye flashed. The same hologram it had been showing yesterday popped up again before them, the wavy-haired man standing the same as before, stained shirt, piggy bank and all.

"Was this the man?" said the beansprout.

"No," said the man, confused.

"Imagine his skin is gray. Are you sure it isn't him?"

"I'm sure. This person's too young," said the man, squinting at the image. "The one who recruited me must've been middle-aged. He had some similar hair, kind of similar face I suppose, but not really. The one I met had a big nose." He put a hand up to his face as if trying to show the shape, but Kanda got absolutely nothing out of the gesture.

The beansprout looked perplexed.

"Is there anything distinctive you remember about him?" he prodded.

"Apart from the gray skin and yellow eyes, I'm afraid not," said the man, shaking his head. "He gave me the names in case I ran into problems, like Angels."

"How long ago was this?" said Alma.

"Three days ago. Or… three days before Saturday. I can't keep track anymore," the man moaned.

"A planned attack?" said the beansprout, glancing at Alma.

"If the Earl was sending out feelers and an Akuma somehow discovered the Heart's whereabouts, it makes sense Miranda's Innocence reacted to protect it," said Alma. "In all likelihood, Miranda's Innocence and the Heart are in close proximity, if it could sense the other."

"But if they're in the same area, then why did it pull the whole city into this?" said Lavi.

"To throw off Akuma. The Heart probably got rid of the one that found it, and Miranda's Innocence activated, both to trap the Akuma here and to keep them searching a wide area," said the beansprout.

"Trap them?" Miranda repeated, sounding confused, and the beansprout elaborated, "Well, think how bad it would be if the Akuma army managed to get out and attack the rest of the world."

Miranda shuddered, and Kanda silently agreed that was a bad idea.

"I don't really know what this 'Heart' you're all talking about is…." At the man's voice, they all jumped and shut their traps. They should really stop recapping everything in public. "…But I do have that list."

The beansprout took the offered paper and began to read. Everyone started to gravitate to him to peek over his shoulder, and even Kanda was dragged over. He acted like it was a pain, but squinted at the paper anyway. There were four names, just as the man had said: Alphonse Klaus, Martha Hearst, Roger Holmes and 'Mother.' What the hell kind of person let themselves be known as 'Mother?' Timothy seemed to share his opinion, if the wide eyes meant anything.

"Mother?" Miranda gasped.

Huh. Apparently they knew where to find one now.

"B-but Mother can't be… can she? She knew about the mirrors! But she's far too kind…."

"Mother's not a Broker for the Earl," said the beansprout. "She's actually in league with Master Cross."

"Isn't she the one who helped Cross and your dad when they were younger?" said Alma, and the sprout nodded.

"One and the same. I talked to her the other day. Remember, Miranda? You passed out, and Mother was all worried when I carried you home."

"Come to think of it, I think I do remember that," Miranda mumbled. "So you know each other?"

"I'd heard of her, but that was the first time we met. We talked about what was going on, so I know for a fact she hasn't seen any Akuma. I wonder what that man was trying to achieve by giving out her name," said the beansprout, frowning at the list. "Um… sir, what's your name?"

"Alphonse Klaus," said the man, and the sprout nodded.

"That's another name off the list. And there was another Broker who was killed by Akuma, I think we can safely assume it was Roger Holmes. That only leaves Martha Hearst."

"Hearst? Isn't that Timothy's last name?" said Alma.

"Yeah, it is," said Lavi. "Hey buddy, do you know who… hey!"

Timothy was gone. He'd been right next to Kanda a minute ago, but now it was like he'd vanished into thin air. They all looked around desperately. Kanda got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What the… where'd he go?" said Lenalee.

"He was just here," said Miranda.

"Well he can't be too far off, then. Timcanpy, can you… Tim?"

The beansprout searched the sky, then pulled at his sleeve to look down it. He gave them all an expression of horror.

"Tim's gone!"

"Tim and Tim?" said Lavi. "We got ourselves a problem, guys!"

"No shit! Did the brat take the golem?" said Kanda.

"Timcanpy doesn't go anywhere he doesn't want to go. I think he followed Timothy," said the beansprout.

"Timcanpy's the center of the golem network, we can track him down," said Alma. "And if he is with Timothy…."

"Right. Golems, track down Timcanpy!"

At the beansprout's command, all the golems perked up (with the exception of Lavi's, which acted as if it hadn't heard at all. Was it broken or something?). Kanda's sped out of his jacket to lead the way, Lenalee's right behind it.

"Wait!" cried the man. "Y-you said you could stop it!"

"We will," the beansprout said determinedly.

"But what will happen to me? What if that man comes back? What if the Akuma…."

The beansprout stepped up to him and placed his red hand on the other's forehead. The man stood stock still, rooted to the spot in his fear.

"W-what… what…"

"I release you from your contract," the sprout said softly. "Under article sixteen, you are permitted to leave the contract unharmed in any way, so long as three high-level magic users can be named for your cause and the magic unwound. I name three: Marian Cross, Mana Walker, and Bak Chan. Should the contract writer find fault, he must appeal to these magicians, in the order they were given. In confidence that these magicians will uphold your reasoning, I negate the spells cast on you."

The cross on the back of his hand glinted. There was a sound like something breaking, but muffled somehow. Tiny flecks of gold light exploded from the man's frame like a firework, but once they were an inch away from his skin, they drifted down lazily, flickering out as they did with an odd tinkling noise. The man looked amazed. But gradually, his eyelids began to sag, and his knees buckled. The beansprout caught him and lowered him gently to the ground, propping him up against the wall before straightening again.

"With that, he won't remember anything tomorrow. The Akuma and Noah won't bother him." He looked sharply back at them. "There's nothing more we can do here. Let's find Timothy."

* * *

Timothy had fast discovered that taxis were way too expensive. That or his allowance was laughably small, but he already knew his dad was kinda skimpy with the money. He also learned that Timcanpy was heavier than it looked. The golem had decided to perch on his head for the taxi ride, and only three or so minutes into it his neck began to hurt. Allen must've grown muscles of steel or something to deal with this thing on his head all day.

The taxi driver had taken a look at Timothy and raised his eyebrows at his age (something Timothy found very annoying), and those eyebrows had gone still higher at the sight of Timcanpy (because what the hell was that supposed to be, anyway?), but once he found out Timothy had the cab fare, he asked no questions. Timothy was glad of that, because he wasn't really sure how he'd respond to anything right now. His head was in a whirl.

Martha Hearst. It couldn't be the one he was thinking of. He couldn't believe it. There had to be another Martha Hearst floating around Mater somewhere. But just in case, he was headed over to the one he knew.

The taxi stopped by the Galmars' house, on the corner. Timothy reluctantly handed over the fare, and clambered out. The car sped away, and he looked down the block with apprehension. He'd never been so nervous about going to his own house before. But he took a deep breath and forced his feet to move. Inspector Galmar came out of his house as he walked by, pulling on his jacket quickly. Timothy kind of hoped he'd go unnoticed, but that wasn't to be.

"Timothy?" said the inspector, pausing. "What are you up to?"

"Uh… just going home," Timothy said flatly, gesturing vaguely down the street.

The inspector raised an eyebrow, just like the taxi man. Timothy knew he wasn't acting the way he usually did, but he was freaked out, he had a reason.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. But I think Dad's gonna ground me. Jean and his stupid onion bombs got me in trouble again," said Timothy, making up some excuse. It was lame, but Galmar seemed to buy it.

"You should know better," the man scoffed. "You're always in trouble for one reason or another, aren't you? Well, it can't be too bad of a punishment. Tell me if anything goes wrong."

Inspector Galmar had been under the impression Timothy's dad was an abusive criminal or something for quite a while. He certainly looked the part, and at times Timothy had been afraid he was going to be hit, but thus far he'd been safe. He knew the inspector was only worried about him.

"Right," Timothy drawled, as Galmar walked past him, to the garage. He watched the man get into his car and start up the engine, and that was when something occurred to him. "Hey. I thought you didn't work on Saturdays," he said, as the car reversed past him.

Galmar leaned his head out the window with a grim expression.

"We've had no less than fifteen officers vanish overnight. Their families haven't seen them, they haven't come in to work, they're just gone, without a trace. We need all the force we can get right now. But don't tell anyone! We don't need this spreading anywhere," he said, giving Timothy a stern look.

Memories of the library the previous day came to mind, and Timothy couldn't resist a shudder.

"R-right."

"Good. Be careful today, all right?"

With that, Galmar reversed down the rest of the driveway, but before he could zoom off down the street, Timothy called, "You're the one who should be careful!"

The inspector gave him a puzzled look, but gave him a short wave and drove away. Timothy watched him go, then looked down at Timcanpy (which had decided to hide behind him, clinging to the back of his shirt). The golem's wings fluttered and it pulled itself up onto his shoulder again. Its tail tapped against his back in what he decided was impatience, and he grumbled, "Okay, okay, I'm going…"

He slunk down the street and slowly, ever so slowly, climbed up the three steps to his front door. He hesitated there, but Timcanpy wiggled restlessly and he scowled. Irritated now, he pushed the door open.

"Hey, I'm… back…?"

His voice trailed off. His parents whirled around to look at him. His mother was in the doorway to the kitchen, his father on the stairs. They'd been arguing, he could tell by the weird silence and the angry faces, but there was something… _too_ angry about it. And some of it seemed directed at him. His stomach gave a twinge.

"Uh… what's going on?" he asked.

"Darling," said his mother, forcing a smile onto her face and trying to sound sweet, but ending up with something more like the impersonation of a growling dog, "Why don't you take a seat in the living room? Your father and I need to talk about something…"

"There's nothing to talk about!" his father snapped, leaning over the railing with a face like thunder. "You know what you're doing, you know it's goddamn sick…"

"Yes, I know what I'm doing! And I know it's for the better!" his mother, Martha, retorted.

"The better? You think that's for the better?" his father roared, gesturing at Timothy.

Timothy himself felt very out of the loop, but there were more twinges now and if it weren't for his determination, he'd be running out the door. He edged toward the living room.

"You had no problems with it before!"

"That's because you only told me part of it! And now I've seen what you're doing, you freaking bitch!"

"Don't you talk like that to me, you bastard!"

"I'll talk to you how I want!"

And now his father was off the stairs, moving toward her with hands raised, face furious. He was seriously going to attack her. Martha's face froze in fear before it was obscured. He hit her, by the looks of it across the face, and shoved her back. She stumbled into the kitchen, and he followed. Ignoring the bad feeling, Timothy ran forward, crying, "Mom!"

There was a loud crack. It hurt Timothy's ears and made him stop. His father toppled back into the hallway. Timothy's eyes widened and he let out a shaky breath. The man was dead, what looked like a bullet hole between the eyes. He fell onto the floor, and blood spattered, sinking into the carpet. Martha stepped over his legs, shaking just as bad as Timothy. There was a gun in her hand. She stared at the felled man for a moment, then up at Timothy, and the boy took a step back.

"Don't move," she said darkly, raising the gun.

The thing was pointed at his head. Timothy whimpered and cowered in place.

"M-mom?"

"I'm not your mother."

Not his mother? The thought floated aimlessly in Timothy's head, unable to connect to anything else and relatively meaningless. So the woman who'd raised him wasn't his mother? But she'd still raised him, and now she was pointing a gun at him. Wasn't there something wrong with that picture? If she spent so much time and effort raising him, then why…?

"Y-you're a Broker," Timothy squeaked.

"That's right."

"But what does that have to do with… with…"

"Your mother's dead. We killed her," said Martha, and there was a smile spreading across her features now. Not a happy one. It was creepy as hell. "She was never supposed to escape the factory. But we hunted her down and killed her. And then we tried to kill you, but your mother, insolent wench she was, managed to find Innocence and made it synchronize with you."

Innocence? His mother… Innocence?

"Every time we tried to kill you, you possessed us. When an Akuma came to kill you, you possessed and destroyed that too," she said, walking slowly closer. "We couldn't take you to a Noah, we'd be killed for our incompetence. So we decided to take you away where you couldn't do any damage. An entire world away. Seems that's backfired, though. You know how to use your Innocence now, don't you?"

He did. He'd completely forgotten that he had the ability to defend himself! Timothy narrowed his eyes and began to concentrate, but the safety was pulled back on the gun with a soft click, and he froze again.

"Ah ah ah. Not so fast. I'm afraid your little trick won't work this time."

And from behind her, something lurched out of the kitchen. An odd, catlike machine, which had to be another Akuma. It turned to face them.

"If you possess me, this Akuma will kill you. And if you possess the Akuma, well…" The gun tipped to the side, "I'm sure you get the idea."

Timothy was feeling really stupid for leaving the others now. He'd wanted to figure this out on his own, but now… Now he knew he was in way over his head. His eyes flicked to Timcanpy, the gold golem just visible at the edge of his vision. Its wings were wavering, as if it was considering whether to take flight. He hoped it wouldn't leave, it was his only source of comfort right now.

"Timcanpy…" he whispered.

The golem's wings stood to attention, and Martha paused.

"Timcanpy?" she repeated. She squinted her eyes suspiciously, as if the name meant something, but she couldn't remember what. "What…."

"Timcanpy!" hissed the Akuma.

Timcanpy shot into the air, right at Martha's head. She yelped in shock and started shooting at it. Most of the bullets missed, but one of them hit. The golem's body cracked, the bullet leaving a gaping hole, but it kept flying into her face. It clung there with its stubby little legs, blocking her view even when she clawed at it. The Akuma shrieked and lunged. It grabbed at the golem but caught Martha's head instead. She gasped.

"Wait! Akuma, don't…!"

It didn't listen, jerking her head back to get a better shot at its target. There was a snap, and Timothy fought the urge to puke. Timcanpy fled its spot, shooting up toward the ceiling, and the Akuma jumped after it, cackling, "Timcanpy, Timcanpy! If I get you for the Earl, I'll be rewarded! The Earl wants you!"

"Too bad!"

Something flashed by, fast enough to ruffle Timothy's clothes and tug at his hair. Alma rammed into the Akuma, sending them both reeling back with his speed. He rolled with the momentum, caught the Akuma's shoulders, and swung it headfirst into the floor. The hardwood smashed under the force, and the Akuma yowled.

"Timothy! Timothy, are you okay?"

Timothy turned slowly. The rest of the group was filtering into the hall, over the door which had been completely knocked off its hinges (when had that happened?). Allen's eye was all weird again. He looked Timothy over, and once he was reassured he was unharmed, began to gesture to the others.

"We're going to need to move fast. There's the level two Alma's fighting, and another upstairs, to the right. There's a third in the backyard."

"Right!" said Eyepatch. He grabbed Kanda and dragged him up the stairs. Lenalee and Link skirted around the fight and the bodies in the hall, on the way to the back door. Allen stepped toward the fight, arm raised in case he needed it, but Alma looked pretty determined to beat this one into a pulp on his own, so he hurried after one of the other groups. Timothy didn't notice which one. Miranda knelt next to him, looking at him with concern. He looked right back at her, mind numb and unable to register the look on her face.

"Timothy, are you hurt at all?" she said.

"They didn't touch me," he replied.

Miranda frowned at the response, but didn't seem to know what else to say. She just stayed there on his level with a hand on his shoulder. The hand grounded him, and made him feel a little bit better. He still felt like throwing up, though, and he tried not to look at the bodies. The pictures on the wall rattled as an explosion rocked the top level. Timothy flinched, and he could see Miranda cringing too. Lavi and Kanda raced down again, Eyepatch laughing about how the Akuma didn't know what hit it. Alma and the other Akuma were still fighting, blocking the landing, so the two boys hopped over the railing and stumbled for the back door.

Alma delivered two swift punches and twisted sharply; his tail hit the Akuma across the face, the heart-shaped tip slicing neatly across its eyes. The Akuma staggered backward in pain and surprise. While it was blinded, Alma took a big gulp of air, and let it out in a scream. What looked like stone duplicates of Akuma bullets, but longer, appeared in front of his open mouth, shimmering green before rocketing off at his opponent. They slammed into the Akuma, forcing it back. For a moment the creature was pinned to the wall by them, but then it exploded. The blast took out a big chunk of the wall and stairs. Alma walked out of the smoke and rubble, a limp in his stride, but with each step, it got better until it vanished altogether.

"You okay?" he said, bending over to see Timothy better and smiling slightly.

"N-not really," Timothy admitted. Alma glanced back at the bodies and grimaced.

"Your…"

"Parents. Yeah." Timothy hesitated. "Or not. She said she wasn't my mother, and I suppose that means he's not my dad, either…"

"She was the Broker?" Alma whispered. It sounded like he was talking to himself, but Timothy nodded anyway.

"S-she said she came from the other world and brought me with her."

Alma blinked.

"That actually kind of makes sense," he said cautiously. "We wondered why you were the only parasitic accommodator we found here. I think only people from the Ark end up with weapons like that…"

"If I'm from the Ark… and you're from the Ark… maybe you know what she was talking about. She said my real mom escaped from a factory," said Timothy. Martha's words were finally clicking. The more he thought about it, the more he shook. The more he wanted to know. Where was his real family? "What did that mean? She escaped and they killed her… but what kind of factory…."

"I don't know anything about a factory. Allen might, though," Alma murmured.

"Someone say my name?"

Allen was walking back down the hallway, looking somewhat disappointed and thoroughly unharmed. He hopped over Martha's corpse and joined their little group.

"Link trapped the last Akuma and the others are using it for target practice, so I guess I'm not needed over there. Did you need something?"

Alma smiled at his presence.

"Timothy was asking about a factory somewhere in the Ark. I guess his mother escaped from there and got killed for it. Do you know anything about it?" he said.

Judging by the look that gradually formed on Allen's face, he knew exactly what they meant. And it wasn't good. The thought was reinforced when Allen dropped to his knees and hugged Timothy tightly to his chest. It might've been a comforting gesture, but the act made him wonder if he had a family left at all.

* * *

Tyki tipped his head to the side, considering. The baby in the carriage looked right back at him and gurgled. It was rather irresponsible of the kid's parents to leave her under a random tree in the park, but apparently the band onstage was popular enough to abandon a child for an autograph. Pity, what if there was a creeper around? Kidnapper or something? Tyki was neither, but still. He leaned over the carriage and said, "I don't suppose you know where I can find Innocence?"

The baby giggled and reached for his hair. He drew back and looked around again. Somewhere in this brightly lit park, there was a shard of Innocence. Unsynchronized with anything, and therefore probably safe to target. He could feel it faintly, but he had to locate it soon. It was getting late, and he didn't want to be rewound before he destroyed it. Starting all over again would be annoying and time consuming.

"Does _anybody_ know where to find Innocence?" he called, just loud enough for the people on the pathway to hear. They gave him weird looks and walked faster. Not like he expected any help from them anyway.

The baby gurgled again, and he looked down, only to blink in surprise. The baby rattle next to the child's head was glowing faintly green. Barely suppressing a smirk, he reached in and picked it up.

"Why thank you."

He clenched it in his fist. There was a slight resistance, a tiny sting as the Innocence tried to fight back, but it had nothing to wield its power, and no way to defend itself. The rattle snapped, and the Innocence inside it shattered with a crunch. He opened his hand and watched, fascinated, as the shimmering green dust spilled out over his fingers, hissing downwards and vanishing before it touched the ground. He never got tired of that.

"There goes another one…" he murmured.

"Tyki Mikk."

Tyki turned around. Just down the pathway there was a man with slicked back, dark hair. He didn't look too out of the ordinary with his dark coat, but there was something very slight about the style of his clothes that leaned more toward the Ark fashions, not Mater's. The more Tyki stared, the more he believed it. This had to be someone from the Ark.

"Oh? So you know my name," he said, smiling. "It's only polite to share your own in return."

"You won't need my name," said the man, raising his right arm. Green flame roared up to his elbow, forming an embellished gauntlet. An Innocence weapon.

"Oh, I insist," said Tyki, unfazed. He slipped the card out of his breast pocket and glanced over the names. There was a good chance this was one of the people on the list. "You're obviously not Marian Cross. Are you perhaps Arystar Krory the Third?"

"Wrong," said the man, eyes narrowing.

"Oh? I suppose I'll try again. Are you Andrew Nansen? Louis Fermi? Winters Socalo?"

Tyki watched his face, and was pleased as, with every name, it became more annoyed. He had barely begun another name when the man snapped, "Stop fooling with me."

"I'll take you seriously when you give me your name," said Tyki, spinning the card on his index finger.

"Suman Dark," said the man.

The card stopped its rotation, one of the names glowing bright red. 'Suman Dark' was spelled out below Alma Karma, clear as day. His eyes flicked back up.

"An Angel, I see. I suppose I'll have to give you my full attention," he mused.

"If you wish to survive," Suman growled. He pulled his arm back and punched it forward into thin air. "_Bring the wind_!" The air in front of him distorted, whirling itself into a gale that swept forward, taking with it the fallen leaves, dried grass and a few lines of electric lights. The rest of the park's light flickered and people began to scream.

Tyki grinned wolfishly and charged at the tempest.

"Die in pain, Angel!"

* * *

End of Chapter 10. I think this is my least favorite chapter thus far, but the action's picking up!

I knew as soon as I included Timothy that he was going to pull this rock-paper-scissors joke. I came up with it ages ago and I've been looking for a way to squeeze it into the story! Hope it made you all snigger.

Miranda has Innocence! I know you've all been waiting for that! She won't be able to control it for a while, but it's there!

And I'm hoping the part about Timothy makes the Innocence phenomenon make a little more sense. All the accommodators in the Ark are parasitic, which is why Allen had never seen Crystal types like Lenalee and the others. Likewise, the people in Mater's world can only have equipment types. Timothy was born in the Ark, which is why he's parasitic, despite living in Mater. The factory is a plot point, I suppose, but one that's not going to come into play for quite a few chapters.

As always, thanks to everyone for the reviews!


	11. The Dark Deleted

Miranda put one foot in front of the other, listlessly but constant. It was one of those dreams where she knew she was dreaming, and simply watched the proceedings without influencing them. Dream-memory told her she'd been walking for a while, phantom pain in her feet telling her the same. She felt tired, but she knew she was following something down this dark blue, sloping cobblestone path. But what?

She raised her head and wasn't all that surprised to see it was Allen ahead of her. He was quite a ways up, the distance making him look like he had a doll's proportions. It didn't help that he'd gone back to the way he'd been in the mirrors- abstract, surrounded by the wavering lines. His hair practically glowed in the light of the full moon.

That moon was falling.

Steadily and slowly, it was descending toward the horizon as Allen climbed the hill. Its light was radiant, almost blinding as the sun, but paler, the royal blue sky giving it an azure tint. Allen crested the hill and looked back. A false smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he lifted his arm.

He waved, as if he was saying goodbye.

The moon blazed like a wreckage, and she realized it wasn't a moon at all. It was like a giant white torso, severed at the neck, shoulders, and hips. A halo sailed over its neck, and gleaming white fire-dust spilled from its wounded form. It creaked and groaned, and fell down onto the hill. The white fire roared, and Allen was lost in the inferno.

* * *

"Tim! Tim!"

A voice.

"Tim! Get your little golem butt out of there!"

It was hushed, but brisk, angry.

"Tim! I swear to god…"

Something touched down on Miranda's shoulder. It wasn't very big, but it was fairly heavy for its size. Whatever it was clutched at her sleeve with four little appendages, and the voice hissed. Miranda let out a groan and curled up a bit more, burying her face in the pillow. The thing on her arm tottered to adjust with the movement, and something else landed on her hip. What the…

"Tim! No more sandwiches if you don't get out here now!"

Miranda opened her eyes and stared straight ahead. She could just barely see her alarm clock on the nightstand. But that hadn't woken her. Confused, she squinted at her arm. Timcanpy had settled itself on her bicep, little feet fisted in the fabric of her pajamas. The swirl of its tail rested on her hip. She blinked at it, and got the feeling that it was looking right back at her. Beyond it she could see a sliver of light from the hallway, meaning the door was ajar. That was where the voice (which she was gradually recognizing as Allen's) was coming from.

"Tim I'm begging you, stop acting like Master!" he whimpered, and the light wavered as someone else came to the door.

"Timcanpy's in there?" said what had to be Lavi, not bothering to be quiet at all. "Isn't that Miranda's room?"

"Yes," Allen hissed. "Pipe down or you'll wake her."

"If it's bothering you, why don't you just go in there and grab the damn golem?" Lavi continued, voice a little lower but not by much.

"And trespass in the room of a sleeping woman?" Allen practically squealed, as if it was the most appalling thing he'd ever heard. "No, sir!"

"Aw, you're a prude, aren't ya," Lavi laughed.

"Just because I respect someone's privacy doesn't make me a prude!" Allen snapped back.

"He's a prude," came Kanda's distant response.

"_Shut up,_ BaKanda!"

Miranda had no idea what that was even supposed to mean, but it must've been some sort of insult, because Kanda yelled something about damn beansprouts and shoving Mugen up somebody's ass. She sat up with a gasp. Timcanpy swung wildly from her sleeve as it tried to right itself, and the sliver of light decreased sharply.

"Oh shit she saw us!"

"What- wait, were you perving on her? You bastard!"

"I was not!"

"You will both be _mincemeat_-"

Miranda hopped out of bed and rushed for the door. She yanked it open and stared, wide-eyed, at the boys outside. Allen and Lavi were cowering against the walls by the doorframe, while Kanda stood in the middle of the hallway, Mugen drawn and held up horizontally so they couldn't escape. All three gave Miranda deer-in-the-headlights expressions. It was almost cute, if Kanda wasn't about ready to slit someone's throat and the other two weren't his unfortunate victims.

"Y-yo," said Lavi, holding up a hand in greeting. "How'd you sleep?"

"…Well?" said Miranda, but it was more of a question than anything.

"G-great! Hey Allen, the lady's not sleeping now! We can totally trespass, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you want to stay out here with Jack-the-freaking-Ripper?" said Lavi, gesturing at Kanda, and receiving a darker glare and angling of the sword in reply. "Because I don't feel like being gutted!"

"U-um, Kanda," Miranda squeaked, and cowered even more when he leveled a glare at her as well. "C-could you please forgive them? I don't know how they offended you this time, but I'm sure they didn't mean it."

"I totally meant it," Allen said under his breath, and Lavi kicked him harshly in the shin from clear across the hall. Miranda chose to ignore them.

"I mean, from what I gather you're older, and more mature. You can let this slip just once, right?" she wheedled.

Kanda regarded her for a moment, then scoffed. He let the flat of Mugen's blade rest on his shoulder and gave them all a superior look as he muttered something like, "I _am_ more mature…"

"I beg to differ," said Link, appearing at the other end of the hallway. "You are the most childish college student I've ever come across, and that includes the dullards in Sardini's lobby."

"Are you trying to piss me off?" Kanda growled, pointing the sword at him now, and Miranda let out a dreary sigh as her pitiful attempts at peacemaking went down the drain.

"Simply stating the obvious," Link sniffed. "Now leave the woman alone so she can get dressed." He vanished again, back into the living room. Kanda stalked after him with a dark cloud around his ears, muttering incoherently.

"I think Link's a prude, too," Lavi said bemusedly.

"I am so sorry, Miranda!" said Allen, straightening up from the wall and giving her a pitiful look. It was remarkably like the kicked-puppy expression he'd used when he was hungry. "I didn't mean to wake you up, but Timcanpy's been with Master for so long, he sometimes starts imitating the bastard! I didn't want to let him record you changing or anything!"

"Oh. Well thank you, I suppose," said Miranda, looking down at Timcanpy. It was still clinging to her sleeve, tail wrapped around her arm to keep it steady. When it noticed her gaze it grinned. Allen tutted angrily and pulled it away.

"Ready for some more hunting today?" said Lavi, grinning jauntily now that he realized Kanda wasn't coming back.

"I suppose. Are the others here yet?" said Miranda.

"Nah. You know that idea to have a golem tell Pimpleface everything for us? Backfired."

"Backfired? But how?" said Miranda, surprised. Link seemed to know what was going on, so what…?

"He dragged us out at like six in the morning! Broke down Kanda's freaking door and started ordering us to get going!" Lavi moaned. "Bastard's unpredictable! First he says he wants nothing to do with this, the next, he's dragging us in!"

"Lenalee and the others will be coming eventually, these three just came early," Allen said with a shrug, plopping Timcanpy onto his shoulder, where it turned to face them and wrapped its tail around his neck again. "Not like there's a whole lot to do right now."

"Morning!" came a distant call from the front door, and they all started.

"My day is ruined," Kanda deadpanned, and the new arrival bit back, "Your day was already crap. I'm the highlight of your week."

"Language, Alma!" said Allen, sounding amused as he walked down the hallway.

"Right, sorry boss!"

Miranda followed the boys into the living room, just in time to see Alma shutting the door. Timothy was perched on his back again, and he slipped down with little difficulty. There was something in the boy's eyes and motions that jittered and shook with nervousness, but the cause of that was easily pinned down. He'd probably woken up in the same house as a pair of corpses. Miranda could only hope Alma had been there to help him.

"Hey," he greeted lamely, and Allen gave him a big smile like nothing was wrong.

"Good morning, Timothy. Did you eat breakfast yet?" he asked.

"No," said Timothy, looking ever so slightly green at the thought but shaking his head furiously. "I thought you'd have food here again."

"Well, Lenalee brought it the last two times. Maybe she'll do it today too. She should show up eventually," Allen mused.

The growling of Timothy's stomach said exactly what he thought of that.

"I can make pancakes if you want," said Miranda.

"Nah, I'll wait in case there's doughnuts," said Timothy.

"Okay then…"

"Weren't you getting dressed?" said Link, a hint of impatience in his usual brisk tone.

"O-oh! I'll go do that," said Miranda, and she scuttled back to her room while Allen gave the blond a dark look.

She shut the door and pulled open her drawers. She pulled a set of clothes on, fixed her hair back in a ponytail, and gave herself a look-over in the mirror. It was actually rather startling. Back on the first repeat day, she'd looked at her reflection and seen an ugly, tired, withering person. Now her face looked less gaunt, her eyes a little brighter. She wouldn't call herself pretty by a long shot, but she wasn't half as bad as she'd looked before. Had she been getting more sleep or something? Maybe it was the hairstyle…. She pondered there for a while before realizing how long she was taking. With a short squeak of alarm, she ran back outside.

She half-expected Link to be lingering outside, tapping a foot impatiently, but there was no one in the hall. The sounds of voices drew her to the living room instead, where everyone had made themselves comfortable. Allen, Link and Kanda sat on the couch, the last two brooding about something or other, while Alma and Timothy sat on the rug, to the side of the coffee table. Lavi had claimed the armchair and TV remote, and was by now engrossed in more cartoons. Rather than the Looney Tunes, it seemed he'd stumbled upon Pokemon.

"Man, this stuff's really changed," he said, staring unblinkingly at the screen. "I used to watch it all the time when I was little. Now I don't recognize half these characters. Where the hell did Misty go?"

"How are they not dead?" said Allen, leaning forward.

"Huh?"

"That yellow thing just hit them with a lightning strike so big, it should've fried them. Look, there it goes again!"

"I dunno, they look kinda cooked," said Alma, eyeing the characters in question as they coughed out smoke.

"But they're not dead! If Skinn Boric went around zapping people like that, it would be carnage!" said Allen, gesturing as Pikachu let off yet another thunderbolt attack.

"Wait, you have a lightning magic guy running around the Ark?" Lavi said, interested, craning his neck to get a better look at Allen. "Who's this Skinn guy?"

"A Noah," Allen said shortly.

"Oh." Lavi looked back at the screen for a while, then shrugged. "Bet he's not as cute as Pikachu."

"Pika-what?"

"_He's not cute at all_," said Alma, and he said it with such finality Miranda had absolutely no doubt about the fact. The others gave him weird looks, but Allen nodded affirmative.

"Definitely not."

In the following silence, there was a crash on the TV. Unintelligible babble followed, but Miranda slowly got sucked into it. She perched on the arm of the couch to watch. Everyone else seemed to be doing the same, but about fifteen minutes after they stopped talking, Allen started to do something odd. He would stiffen up and look at the ceiling, panic and confusion on his face. His left eye would flicker, somewhat darker and then light again, and darker and light. It would stop flickering after a moment and he'd look back at the TV, disgruntled. It happened several times, some within seconds of the last, and it was a bit disconcerting. After a while he squeezed his eyes shut and put a hand over them.

"Are you all right?" said Miranda, worriedly.

"I don't know," he muttered, rubbing at his face. "My eye keeps reacting to something, but whenever I look up it's out of range again."

"Should we be worried?" said Lavi, peeling his eyes away from the show.

"Best to be on guard, yeah. Can't say for sure if we're in danger though," said Allen.

The house, in danger? It had never occurred to Miranda. Somehow her mind had registered the house as a safe place where they couldn't be found by any Akuma. The discovery of the Innocence in her clock had only reinforced that idea. The thought that a monster could come crashing through the wall any minute made her shudder. She slipped onto the couch cushion, forcing the others to move over to accommodate her. Link's face was pinched and Kanda grumbled as a result- normally she would've been begging forgiveness, but at this point she barely noticed. Allen tried to give her a smile, but his eye blackened again, and he scowled either in irritation or pain. Over on the armchair, Lavi pulled his weapon out of his pocket.

"Innocence, activate." It grew to the size of a regular hammer and he kept it in hand, turning back to the TV. "Best be prepared then, huh?"

"Probably," said Alma, and without another word his own Innocence activated. Timothy began to eye his sweeping tail again.

The air was tense. Miranda tried to take comfort in the fact that they were all so close by, but the nervousness was contagious. Allen's glances at the ceiling didn't help in the least. It was nearing the end of the episode when they heard something strange. It was the wind. One second it was the normal chilly gusts, the next, it was positively roaring. There were screams from outside (were those children seriously still waiting outside her house?), and everyone in the room leapt to their feet.

"Akuma?" said Lavi, rolling off the chair.

"No, I don't think so," said Allen, perplexed, and his eye remained normal.

"Then what the hell is it?"

"Suman?" Alma squeaked.

Their answer came as the door flew open, smacking into the wall hard enough to punch a hole in the drywall. Wind swept in, rattling the pictures on the wall and causing Miranda's hair to fly about in her face, but it died down fast. Lenalee staggered in on wobbly legs, Innocence activated. Her hair was in complete disarray, her clothes rumpled and windswept. She clutched a white box to her chest so hard it was giving out under her grip, and her eyes were wide and panicked.

"The car!" she screeched. "T-they killed the god damn car!"

"Hang on, what?" said Lavi, even as he rushed over to her.

"The car! brother's going to kill me!" Lenalee whimpered.

Allen reached her side a moment after Kanda did. He leaned toward her and asked, quickly, "What happened?"

"It came out of nowhere!" said Lenalee, borderline hysteric. "I was on my way here and bam! It hit the car! Crashed right through the hood! I-I used my Innocence to get away, but there were more of them, all over in the sky!"

"More of what?" said Allen.

"Akuma!"

Miranda felt faint.

"How many?" Allen forced out.

"I couldn't count," Lenalee whispered, trembling. "But it looked like hundreds of them! All going into town!"

"All in the same direction?"

"Yes."

"Did they try to attack you too? The ones in the sky?" said Alma.

Lenalee's face gradually changed, from scared out of her mind to just normal terrified, with a bit of wonder thrown in.

"N-no, they didn't. And the one that hit the car didn't follow me," she murmured.

Allen and Alma shared a glance, and Miranda decided she didn't like that look. She really didn't like that look. Kanda seemed to think the same, because he snapped, "What the hell do you know that we don't?"

"Something big's happening," said Allen. "Big enough that all the Akuma were pulled in as reinforcements."

"Did Tyki track down a General or something?" said Alma.

"No, he already killed a General before and he didn't get near that kind of reaction," said Allen.

"Say what? When did a General bite the dust?" said Lavi.

"You said Yeegar was the victim you saw. If it was really the same Kevin Yeegar I'm thinking of, he was a General," said Allen.

"A General was working at Rose Cross?" said Link, and he sounded torn between incredulity and awe.

"Maybe. So that means whatever this is, its power tops a General's," said Allen.

"The Heart!" Alma gasped.

"Exactly."

"Aw crap, this is bad," said Lavi. "What now?"

"We stop it," Allen said determinedly.

"How the hell are you going to stop an army?" Link hissed.

"We're not."

The flat tone made Miranda freeze.

"W-what do you mean?" she muttered. Allen turned to face her, and there was grim determination in his eyes.

"There's no way we can take out an army. But Suman's out there, and he may be a bastard but he's an Angel for a reason. We're going to get rid of as many of those Akuma as we can. At the least it can make a dent in the amount he and the Heart will have to fight."

"A dent. That's all we can do, huh?" Lavi said darkly.

Allen nodded. Kanda scowled, but didn't argue about it. Timothy looked scared and confused.

"We'll start now," said Alma. "Lenalee, can you come with me? We can target the Akuma in the skies and knock them down for the others."

"H-huh? O-okay, I guess," she said, still rattled. She peeled her hands off the box and gave it a look of regret before setting it on the floor to the side. She straightened up, slapped her face a few times, and screwed her features into something a bit more brave. "I'm ready when you are, I suppose."

"Then let's do this," said Alma, and he pushed the door open again. They all followed him outside. Almost as soon as they did, something big and dark shot over the house to their right. Quite a few of them flinched, and Miranda ducked with a screech.

"What was that?"

"One of the Akuma!" said Allen, eyes following it.

The thing sailed over the rooftops and rapidly grew smaller in the distance, headed for the skyscrapers of downtown. Over in that direction, there were more dark shapes in the sky, all flying in the same direction. There was a veritable swarm over there.

"Oh my god… how many are there?" Lenalee whispered.

"Hell if I know. Can you count from here, Lavi?" said Kanda.

"At this distance? Hell freaking no!" Lavi cried.

"We don't need to count, just bring them down," said Alma. His knees bent, and there was a flare of light. This one wasn't green, though. It was practically a rainbow of colors, and after a moment, Miranda could make out the shape. It looked like a pair of fairy wings, almost feathery, large enough where they could've hidden him from view, had they not been translucent. They spread, and swung down in a gust that lifted him up into the air. Lenalee leapt after him. They shot through the sky faster than birds, heading right after one of the dark spots.

"What was that?" said Lavi, stunned.

"I told you before, Lotus mimics a Level Four Akuma. Level Fours have wings. Of course, since it's still Innocence so it looks a little different…" said Allen.

"Seriously…?"

"Oh, oh, oh!" cried Timothy, jumping up and down.

Miranda barely had time to look over at him before he keeled over. Link caught him before he hit the driveway. Without any other warning, another Akuma went slamming into the ground, smashing the concrete in the street. More debris went flying. The oddly bright colors of the Akuma shifted for a moment, before it began to crumble into dust. Timothy blinked his eyes open again and did a little fist pump.

"Ha, I got the first one! Take that, Eyepatch!" he cheered.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Lavi spluttered.

The sound of an explosion came from the sky. They all looked up again and Link muttered darkly, "We're of no help in this position. Let's get moving."

"We need to get airborne. Kanda, come here," said Lavi, walking over to the lawn. Kanda looked dubious, but drifted over anyway.

"What kind of stupid plan have you come up with?" he grumbled.

"A brilliant one," said Lavi. The hammer grew, spike slamming into the ground and head growing to the size of Miranda's couch. "Grab the handle."

Hesitantly, Kanda wrapped his hand around the pole.

"Got a good grip?"

"Yeah…"

"Good! Extend!"

Kanda let out an unmanly screech as the handle grew, rocketing them both up into the air. Lavi swung one leg over it to ride it like a witch would a broomstick, but Kanda just clung on and flailed as they rapidly grew smaller.

"Bastard rabbit! What the hell is this?"

"I'm the freaking witch of the west!"

"He's going to kill them both," Link scoffed.

"You don't really think that, do you?" said Miranda.

"With their stupidity I wouldn't be surprised. Are you coming or staying here?" said Link.

"I-I'm going!" Miranda said quickly. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well you can't attack or anything, can you?" said Timothy. His superior look was irritating. She was more than twice his age!

"I… I'm sure I can do something," she said, but the more she thought of it, the more she doubted that.

"At the least it would be a bad idea to leave you alone and unprotected," said Link. "At least until your Innocence forms its weapon, you're defenseless."

"But doesn't that mean she'd do real bad in the middle of a fight?" said Timothy.

"Better than letting her be picked off without us knowing," said Link.

The easy way he talked about her own death was almost sickening. Miranda's hands trembled, and she fisted them in her jacket, trying to force them to stop.

"I don't want to get in the way, but… I'm sure there's something…"

"You're coming," said Allen, and he glared at Link as if daring him to say otherwise. Link sniffed but said nothing.

"How're we going to get over there? Kanda's got his car keys," said Timothy, squinting after the others.

"On foot. You've trained for this sort of thing, right, Link?" said Allen.

"It's been a while, but yes," Link replied.

"Good."

Allen moved in front of Miranda and bent down a little, arms held back. He looked over his shoulder and said, "Get on."

"What?"

"It's a piggyback. I'll carry you over there."

"I appreciate the thought, but I think I'm bigger than you. It might just be easier to walk," said Miranda, wringing her hands nervously.

Allen's eyes twinkled with laughter.

"If I can destroy Level Three Akuma, I doubt you'll be much trouble," he said. "Believe me, this is going to be a lot faster."

"O-okay…" Miranda mumbled, climbing onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he looped his own arms around her legs. She felt silly and childish, and hoped none of the neighbors were watching. Timothy had clambered onto Link's back as well, and looked perfectly content there.

"Ready?" said Allen.

"Ready," Link echoed.

"Good! Try to keep up."

Keeping up in a piggyback race? Miranda had only a moment to wonder about that before Allen took off. And boy, when he wasn't pacing himself for others, he was _fast_. He sprinted down the street at an Olympic pace, jumped up onto the Wheelers' car (causing the alarm to go off), and from there launched himself onto their roof. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, and Miranda screeched when he practically flew over someone's backyard. She clung on tight as she could, horrified at the speed and recklessness Allen was using to travel. Link wasn't far behind. She could see him from the corner of her eye, making the same jumps with the grace of a cat. Timothy whooped from his back.

They reached a street that was a bit too far to cross in one jump, so Allen dropped down and leapfrogged from one moving car to the other, until he reached the other side and was able to alight on another roof. It was at this point that Miranda moaned pitifully and buried her face in his shoulder. He laughed.

"You doing okay back there?"

"No…"

"Think baby koala! Baby koala!"

Miranda may have been imagining it, but she thought his left shoulder sparked. Like static almost, but the light was green. Was he activating the weapon without noticing? Maybe that was why he could jump such distances… But then again Link was doing the same….

There was an explosion overhead, and Lenalee zipped low to the ground nearby. An Akuma, another shaped like a baby doll, swooped low as well. Alma had pushed it down, and when he deemed it close enough, he lifted up and away in search of new prey. Allen made a beeline for it. Miranda gasped as his left shoulder went up in flame, the armored arm sweeping over to catch the thing in the face. The Akuma screeched as its eye was punctured, and exploded as he tore through its body. He was already out of the way before the thing was destroyed, so Miranda stayed unscathed. The fire on his arm was surprisingly harmless- in fact it was soothingly warm, not burning hot. The only real discomfort she had was that Allen was making use of his clawed arm in his flight, and the movement made it a little harder to cling on.

"Here's another one!" cried Lenalee, delivering a spin kick to another Akuma and successfully moving it their way.

It wasn't quite close enough, though, so Link had to use some sort of gravity-papers to pull it down to the point where Allen could slash through it. As that one exploded as well, he dug his claws into a chimney and swung around, changing direction to jump after another. At this point Miranda decided to hide her face and concentrate on hanging on. Allen kept running, using his big arm to navigate the streets almost like a monkey, while Link trailed him. Akuma after Akuma fell to his talons, and Miranda wondered vaguely if these things were even putting up a fight. It seemed much too quick.

"Accommodators!"

"Accommodators!"

"Little pests!"

"We've got company!" came a shout from Lavi, sounding far off.

Miranda lifted her head to see three Level Twos descending on them. One immediately changed into bright colors as Timothy possessed it, and Allen hopped onto one of the others before it could catch him. He stumbled a bit on its back, and dug his claws in to stay steady. The last Akuma turned to face them and opened its mouth. Some sort of energy began to build there- what would've been an attack, if Kanda hadn't come down out of nowhere and stabbed Mugen into its skull. He ripped it out as the monster screamed, and brandished it at the sky.

"Mugen, summon misfortune! Netherworld Creature Ichigen!"

Once more, the eel-like insects flooded out of the blade, screeching and wailing. They billowed about for a while, and Kanda had the stupidity to actually jump out, onto them. The two he'd picked as footholds squealed under his weight, while the Akuma behind him exploded.

"Kanda, I hope you know what you're doing!" Allen called.

"Of course I do, god damn beansprout!" Kanda hissed, and directed his glare at the eels, jabbing Mugen at them as he ordered, "Okay, you little bastards, you listen here and now or I swear to god I will turn you into freaking monster sushi. Now attack the Akuma!" One hissed, seemingly in protest, and he smacked it with the sword. "I said attack!"

There was a moment of hesitation, but it appeared his message had gotten across. In twos and threes, the eels broke away from their group and began to hunt down more of the Akuma in the sky. Miranda let out a sigh of relief as Lavi swung by and snatched Kanda up (prompting another loud bout of cussing). One of the eels he'd been standing on flew alongside them for a while, probably tailing the Akuma they were riding, but Allen tore through the monster first. He hopped onto the eel to get away before the resulting explosion. The eel screeched and bucked in response, and Allen quickly sprang back to the rooftops. Peeved, the eel took off after Kanda.

"Well it seems like he's got better control over them now," Allen mused, a slight frown on his face. "At least that one didn't attack me."

"Good thing, too," Miranda mumbled.

"Binding Wings!"

Link had snagged another one with his spell papers. Timothy's Akuma ripped its head off, and the thing burst into pieces. They reached the top of a rather tall apartment building and stopped. By this time they were actually fairly close to downtown. They weren't actually in the downtown area but close enough that they could get at their quarry. The Akuma were flocking in the sky, paying very little attention to them unless Alma or the others started cracking their skulls together. Allen let Miranda slip down onto the roof, apparently judging this a good hunting place. She backed away toward the door to watch as he set to work, waiting for the others to send Akuma within his reach. Link lingered near him, eyes peeled for any opportunity to catch another one. Timothy's body ended up slumped near Miranda, his possessed Akuma flying above to rip apart more of them.

The sun was high in the sky, probably past noon, when things changed. The others had paused in their fighting, taking a short break to catch their breath. The Akuma were completely preoccupied with downtown, and while they swirled above, they took no interest in the accommodators below.

"This… this is kinda insulting," Lavi panted. "Convenient, yeah, but still! It's like they don't even think we're a threat!"

"They're excited about something. We're not as important, so they're not paying much attention," said Allen.

"Well what the hell are they so excited about? If they really found the Heart, wouldn't they be going down for it already? It's been hours and they just keep circling!" said Lavi.

"Akuma can't destroy Innocence. More than likely it's Tyki who's after it," said Allen.

"And if he's got it, why the swarm?"

"Because he's fighting Suman, I think."

"Ya think Suman can beat him?" said Timothy, pushing himself to his feet and stretching (the Akuma he'd possessed for the past three hours had just been destroyed by one of the renegade 'ichigen,' though the things were obeying Kanda's orders much more readily now).

"At the very least he can chase him away," said Alma, flopping onto the ground. He groaned in pain, belatedly realizing that a concrete floor wasn't soft. Kanda didn't even have the breath to mock him for it. The Japanese boy was sitting not too far away, legs crossed and Mugen's hilt under his chin. His eyes were closed, sweaty face pale, and he was breathing hard. Allen knelt down next to him.

"Kanda, stop your invocation. Letting your second stage run for this long can be really draining for your health."

"Well what else am I supposed to do when the bastards are up in the air?" asked Kanda, cracking one eye open to give the other a baleful look.

"Stay down here with me and Link. The others send Akuma our way, you can still get at them from here," said Allen. When Kanda continued to look reluctant, he continued, "Keep that invocation going and it'll use up all your energy. You'll faint and be unable to defend yourself. You like that idea?"

Kanda regarded him for a minute more and sighed. He touched the tip of Mugen's blade and brought his fingers slowly up to the hilt, and the black sheath appeared in their wake. Once it was completely covered, the Ichigen stopped short. Each one of them made a gurgling, purring sound, and curled up in place. Slowly, they faded from sight. Almost immediately, Kanda began to breathe easier.

"See? Better, isn't it?" said Allen, but the only response he received was a snort.

"You know, I don't think we're even making that dent," said Lenalee, dropping heavily onto the ground by Miranda. The poor girl looked almost as bad as Kanda did. Utterly exhausted.

"Oh, I'm sure you're doing great!" said Miranda, giving her a smile. "You've destroyed so many already!"

Lenalee gave her a little smile too, but it was a false one, like she was just humoring her. Miranda's own smile faltered at that, and she turned her eyes to the sky again. It really did look like they'd made no progress, but they had easily taken out a large number. She would've said over a hundred, but she didn't want to think so many Akuma had been lurking in Mater.

"Hey. What's that?" said Lavi.

"What's what?" said Allen, looking up.

Lavi was on the edge of the roof, squinting off toward mid-downtown, with a troubled look on his face. He pointed toward the area Central Bank was likely to be and said, "Over there. There's something big. I think it's coming up from the street, but I can't see it very well. Big and white."

"Big and white?" Allen repeated, drifting over to squint as well. As they continued to stare off, Alma got curious and peeled himself off the ground. He tottered over to them, and after a glance at Lenalee, Miranda decided to follow. They all stood shoulder-to-shoulder.

There was, indeed, something moving over in the buildings. Simply being able to see it at this distance meant it was big. And Lavi was right, it seemed to be rising up. For a moment Miranda wondered if it might be a balloon, like the ones in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but it seemed to be glowing. She puzzled over it for a while, before it hit her.

"Is… Is that the Heart?" she gasped.

"I doubt it. With what I hear about the Heart, I think it'd activate with… I dunno, a bang, or something," said Allen.

"You're the one who said it was the same as any other Innocence," said Lavi.

"Well yeah, but I've never seen Innocence like that. Usually it's green, you know?" said Allen.

Anything else they were going to say was drowned out as the Akuma began to jeer. It was impossible to tell what they were saying, but from what Miranda could tell, they all looked excited. The group all blinked up at the creatures in confusion before Lavi concluded, "Okay, I guess that's the thing they were waiting for."

"Yeah, but…."

The white thing chose this moment to rise above the smaller buildings and reveal itself. Miranda's breath froze in her chest. It was the thing from her dream. A great white torso floating in the sky above downtown, gleaming halo hovering above its neck. What looked like thick vines engulfed its lower half, like a grotesque tutu, and where its heart would've been was a gaping hole with something shimmering inside.

"W-what is that?" Miranda whispered. "Is… is that really Innocence?"

"I don't believe it…" Alma murmured.

"It's a Fallen One," said Allen.

"A what?" said Lenalee, staggering over with Kanda and the others on her heels, and he said, louder, "A Fallen One! That's what happens when Innocence and its accommodator fall out of synch!"

"That can happen?" said Lavi, looking surprised.

"It's unnatural, but it can happen. Someone 'falls' when they reject their Innocence. Depending on the height of synchronization, it could be devastating. Low levels result in severe damage to the accommodator, but they still tend to live. In higher levels, there's greater power balanced between them. Innocence is a permanent parasite, it doesn't know how to control such energy levels on its own, so when the accommodator cuts out completely on their end, the Innocence is left at the same synch level and the power goes haywire. It just gets released without warning, and the accommodator gets the brunt of it. It can warp them into monsters. Monsters like that."

"So if that's an accommodator, does that mean… Is that Suman?" said Lavi.

"Yeah," said Allen, grimly.

For a short time they all stared up at the hulk and the Akuma swarming in on it. The creatures started to attack, but as far as Miranda could tell, they weren't doing any damage.

"What will happen to him?" she said.

Allen's eyes narrowed.

"The Innocence's power will burn itself up. Suman's life will burn with it."

"Th-that's horrible…" Lenalee whispered.

Miranda silently agreed. Suman hadn't seemed the kindest man, but still, this was an awful fate.

"There's no way to save him?" she asked. It was a stupid question, she knew. If there was a chance to help him, they'd all be doing something already. But being unable to help… it hurt.

"There might be," said Allen, and Alma gave him a sharp look.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Innocence. It can't wield power like that if it's not channeled through an accommodator or something. If we separate it from Suman, we might be able to stop it before his life is burned up," said Allen.

"Allen," said Alma, glaring. "Do you see that? That is a giant hulk of Innocence-powered _destruction_. You can't bring it down. There's no arm in there to chop off, that thing _is_ Suman, it's infected his entire body. People have tried to save Fallen Ones before. You know what happened? They died. All of them."

"Is that true?" said Miranda, but it seemed she was being ignored.

"I can't just sit here and watch!" Allen snapped.

"There's nothing that can be done!" Alma retorted.

"So you're happy watching him die?"

"Hell no! But I'm not going to let him take me down with-"

The air seemed to shudder, and everyone froze. Something was about to happen, Miranda didn't know what, but it wasn't long before she found out.

The severed portions of the Fallen One's body began to glow, and suddenly, light blazed out of it. A tower of blue gleamed, coming from the neck and below, while another stretched out from the shoulders like arms. It looked like a great blue cross. Where the light hit Akuma, they screamed and fizzled away into nothing. And for the first time, the dome of Mater could be seen. The light only ended when it hit the dome, where it dissolved into sparks and crackling lightning. The rest of the dome wavered, what looked like water swirling and distorting anything beyond it. It was far overhead, so Miranda couldn't see much detail, but it made her feel sick.

The Fallen One moved. It spun slowly, whipping its 'arms' with it, and the blaze traveled across the sky. Apparently it was solid, because Akuma weren't the only things it destroyed. The light smashed into the tops of any skyscrapers it touched, and debris rained down onto the streets. Kanda swore violently and Lenalee let out an incomprehensible noise of terror. Everyone else just gaped.

"Shit! How long's it gonna take for him to burn out?" Lavi yelped. Allen sent him a glare and he defended, "Look, I know he's important and all, but that's downtown on a Saturday afternoon! Who knows how many people just one of those buildings killed?"

Allen's face twisted, like he didn't want to admit that to himself.

"We have to stop him," he said.

"There isn't a way to do that!" said Alma.

"I can at least try to limit the damage he's doing," Allen said determinedly.

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I managed to do it with Kanda."

With _Kanda_? Kanda was a college student! This was a floating monster decimating Mater! The sick feeling in Miranda's stomach got worse the more she thought about it. Kanda seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he shoved at Allen's shoulder and snarled, "That's the stupidest comparison I've ever heard!"

Allen stumbled (nearly careening off the building), but looked back and cried, "Don't underestimate me!"

"Don't underestimate that!" Kanda roared, pointing at the Fallen One.

Miranda bit her lip and put her hands on her stomach. The bad feeling there was getting worse, spreading up into her chest. She shuddered.

"I'm not…."

"Allen, don't be stupid. Yu's right."

"I can't just watch this!" Allen cried, fisting his hands and hunching his shoulders. "Alma, please… I'm a small person. When I see something like this, right in front of me, I have to do something…."

"Are you all right?"

There was a hand on Miranda's shoulder, and the voice was close. She jumped and looked around in a panic. It was Link. Everyone else was caught up in the shouting between Allen and the others (even Timothy, with his hand on Link's jacket, was paying rapt attention), but Link was completely focused on her. His face was blank, but there was something in his eyes that might've been concern.

"Are you all right?" he repeated.

"I don't know…" Miranda mumbled. The feeling was getting worse. Was it getting hard to breathe? "My stomach hurts…"

"How long has it been hurting?"

"Not long… I think… maybe since Kanda got mad?" she guessed.

Link's eyes narrowed.

There was a stab of pain in her abdomen, so hard and out of the blue that she couldn't help but scream. It felt like someone had stabbed a knife into her stomach and twisted. Her knees buckled. Link grabbed her arm, but that didn't stop her from falling. She curled up under his grip like the Ichigen had done, fairly content to be a little ball of misery. Her whimpers were pitiful enough that Link knelt beside her, looking more concerned and human than she'd ever seen him.

"What's wrong?" he said urgently.

"Miranda!" cried Allen, rushing over to them. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"It hurts," she said, breath coming out in a hiss. "It hurts, make it stop…"

"Do you know what's causing it?' said Allen.

She had absolutely no idea, so she just whined in agony instead. Everyone was crowding around now. She wasn't sure whether to be flattered by the amount of worry on their faces. They really cared, didn't they? Link was the only one not looking at her now. He was looking around wildly, as if trying to spot the source of her predicament, and after a minute, his eyes widened again.

"The dome!" he said. "The dome's being attacked!"

They all looked up.

"Oh geez, it really is," said Lavi. "Those sparks don't look good…."

"I thought Innocence couldn't attack Innocence!" said Lenalee.

"It won't if it can help it, but this thing is out of control," said Allen.

"But then what happens if it keeps attacking?" said Lenalee.

"Miranda's Innocence is already spread thin to affect this city on its own, so it has no extra energy to defend itself. If the Fallen One keeps hammering away, it could easily break," said Alma.

"And then the dome falls," said Lavi, paling.

"And the Akuma and Fallen get out," said Kanda.

Miranda fought back a sob. She found herself suddenly terrified at the thought of losing that thing in her clock. It was precious. Too precious. It had chosen useless Miranda out of everyone, and had done its best to protect them. She couldn't let it go. She couldn't. She couldn't.

"What about Miranda?" said Lenalee.

"Your reaction alone shows you're more synchronized than I thought," said Alma, putting a hand to Miranda's forehead. "You've got enough of a connection where you feel some of its pain. It's likely the Innocence is leeching off your energy too."

"How is my energy supposed to help?" she asked.

"So it's better able to control and channel its power," said Alma.

"My energy's nowhere near enough, though, is it?" Miranda said ruefully.

"No, not under this kind of pressure," said Alma.

Miranda's eyes stung. She focused her gaze on the buttons of Allen's coat, trying to distract herself. Between the pain and the fact that zoning out usually involved thinking of the clock, she didn't succeed. She could see Allen's face darken at the edge of her vision.

"Alma, take Miranda and the others home."

"What?" said Miranda, shocked.

"Take them back to Miranda's house," said Allen, straightening up. "Miranda's condition will be better if she's closer to the clock right now, and everyone's exhausted. We stand no chance against a Fallen One this way."

"What are you planning?" said Alma.

"I'm staying."

"Are you a freaking idiot?" Kanda hissed.

"Seriously, that's a bad idea, man. We've got to stick together. Here or at the house, we've still got to do that," said Lavi.

"I know. I'm just going to keep Suman from destroying all of downtown. I won't get myself killed or anything, promise," said Allen, grinning.

"You're still on about that? Come on! Cross may be a bad excuse for a teacher, but he must've beaten something into your head!" said Alma, looking desperate.

"Bills, Alma. I learned about bills. And you see that destruction? Think of all the bills."

"Allen…"

Alma looked distraught, and Miranda felt the same way. If what she was feeling was just a portion of the suffering her Inncoence was enduring, he stood no chance. It would be suicide. She opened her mouth so say so, but another stab of pain drove into her gut and stayed there, adding to the previous sting. She doubled over, wheezing.

"Alma, really, I can take care of this. I'm a survivor, remember?" Allen was targeting Alma with his wheedling. Kanda and Lavi were still grumbling to make him stay, but he kept his eyes on Alma's face and acted like he didn't hear them. Alma stared right back. After a while he sniffed like he was going to cry and bowed his head.

"Damn it, Allen."

"I can do this."

"You're a Walker. You're supposed to run, not stand your ground."

"Since when have Walkers bent to stereotypes?"

"Ugh, you people. You're so frustrating."

"…I'm staying."

"I know."

Kanda and Lavi's argument broke off immediately. They were all silent, save for the yowling Akuma and the crashing by the Fallen One. Miranda felt betrayed. Why would Alma let him go so easily? They should be dragging him away from the danger, not letting him walk right into it!

"Just be careful, okay?" said Alma, giving him a watery smile.

"Don't worry," said Allen. "Now hurry. It looks like she's getting worse."

Miranda felt herself lifted up, so Alma cradled her in his arms. His Innocence must've been kicking in, because he made it seem effortless. She struggled a bit in his grip but wasn't able to do more than squirm. The group reorientated itself around them now, while Allen teetered on the edge of the roof. Lenalee looked from Miranda to him, looking a little lost, but frowned and called, "Allen!"

"Hm?" he said, looking back.

"You make sure you come back safe, okay?" she said.

Allen looked mystified for a moment, then let out a short laugh and said, "Sure thing."

"I'm serious," said Lenalee, almost pouting.

"So am I! Don't worry, I'll be back. I swear."

"You better."

Allen smiled again, and leapt from the roof. Lavi took a step as if to follow, but thought better of it. They watched him dashing off towards the commotion.

"Right, let's get going," said Alma, turning away.

"But… but Allen…" Miranda mumbled.

"There's no arguing with him when he gets like this," said Alma. "Now come on. Let's get back as soon as possible. Stay together just in case."

He hopped off the roof, and his wings unfurled again. Wind whistled by, tugging at Miranda's hair and clothes as they flew onwards. The others followed not far behind. Miranda watched over Alma's shoulder as they kept up, and the white hair of their last companion vanished from sight. She felt like crying, and noticed dully that Alma was biting his lip, as if forcing back angry tears of his own.

No Akuma bothered with them, which was actually very fortunate- the group really was exhausted. By the time they arrived at Miranda's house, Lavi was so tired he flopped onto his face on the lawn and groaned. Kanda grabbed him by the scarf and hauled him bodily toward the door (he had some difficulty, though apart from a few strangled grunts, the redhead made absolutely no protest). Lenalee held the door open, and Alma hurried inside to set Miranda by the clock. As soon as she touched it, she began to feel a fraction better, and leaned into it without any question.

"Now what? Is there something we should be doing?" said Lenalee.

"We wait," said Alma.

"And do nothing until the beansprout comes back?" said Kanda, scowling. He tugged a few more times trying to get Lavi over the threshold, then gave up and stumbled in on his own. Lavi moved his head so his one eye was visible to watch.

"That sounds really terrible of us, but honestly, I don't think I can do anything," he said, muffled slightly by the rug.

"No kidding," said Alma, stifling a laugh, and he and Link (who'd arrived just behind them) proceeded to drag him in.

They didn't sit in the living room, but made a loose circle around Miranda on the hallway floor. Timothy shut the door and sat next to Miranda, looking up at her with a little trepidation.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Yes, actually," said Miranda, tipping her head against the wood. "You were right, it's better when I'm touching the clock."

"Here's hoping it'll stay that way," said Alma.

"It might get worse?" said Miranda, getting a little fearful now.

"Depending on whether Allen can actually get the Fallen One to stop. I doubt it, and there's a chance that thing might try to get out. The one I saw before just kept going up," said Alma, pointing at the ceiling.

"Up?"

"Yeah. Might actually crash into the dome if it tries that."

"So you've seen one of these before? On the Ark?" said Lavi, lounging against the clock on the other side (Miranda didn't know whether to be irritated or not that he was touching it. It was her clock, damn it).

"Only once, and it was a long time ago. Before I got Lotus," said Alma.

"How old were you?" said Lenalee.

"Nine? Nine or ten," said Alma, glancing at Kanda, who looked a mixture of pissed-off and confused.

"So what happened?" said Lavi. "How bad was the damage? How long did it take?"

"It was _bad_," said Alma. "That one took out a whole district in the Ark. They actually had to close that door permanently it was so bad. Killed a lot of people, I don't remember how many anymore. But it was terrifying. The Angel rejected her Innocence, it went berserk, she turned into a Fallen, and started attacking randomly. Over the course of the day it rose into the sky, and then it went and self-destructed. At that point people could feel the Innocence."

He shuddered, and Miranda was confused. Before, when she'd come in contact with pure Innocence, it had been warm. It had made her feel happy. Didn't it keep that feeling when it reached higher synch levels? She must've accidentally said this aloud, because now the others were looking at her. She blushed in embarrassment.

"You've only felt content Innocence," said Alma.

"It feels emotions too, then?" said Lavi.

"Yeah, didn't Allen tell you that?" said Alma, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't felt emotion from Mugen," said Kanda.

Alma wrinkled his nose and drew his legs close before saying, "It's easy to confuse its emotions with your own, but if you get into a really dangerous situation, believe me, you'll feel it. The Innocence in a Fallen One is distraught, it's scared and angry and betrayed and horribly, horribly sad. Think of a thousand people screaming in unison. The noise and feeling actually physically hurts. And it's even worse for people who aren't accommodators. They can't handle the Innocence's influence, and the exposure can kill them."

"That sounds like an awful way to die," Lenalee murmured.

"By the looks of it, it really was," Alma sighed.

"We can't do anything to stop that part either, huh?" said Lavi.

Alma shook his head, and silence fell. No one seemed to know what to say anymore. Miranda cringed at another spasm of pain. She whimpered. Lenalee bit her lip and glanced around. She gasped as she spotted something, and pulled a white box away from the wall. Hadn't she brought that in with her? She opened it up to reveal another large batch of doughnuts. They were a little squished, but still in good condition.

"I-I lost the other box when the Akuma attacked my car, but I did buy doughnuts for everyone!" she said, forcing a smile onto her face. "We didn't have breakfast, did we?"

"No, we didn't!" cried Timothy, jumping up at the sight.

"Pick one out, everybody!"

Timothy rushed over, and gradually, everyone shuffled over to her to grab one. Timothy returned to his spot next to Miranda, an eclair stuck in his mouth. He pulled it out and asked, "Aren't you going to get one too?"

"No, I don't think so," Miranda said quietly.

"But they're doughnuts!" said Timothy, waving the eclair in her face.

"Really, I think I'll be-"

"Here."

And suddenly the entire box was held up in front of her. She blinked at the pastries, then looked up at Lenalee's face. The girl looked determined.

"They're only doughnuts, but we've got to keep our strength up, right?" she said.

Gradually, Miranda recognized what this was. Just a few days ago she'd done something similar; she'd given Allen a plate of pancakes in a sad attempt to make things better. She hadn't known what to do, and that was all she could think of. Like food could distract him, could make the situation a little more normal. Lenalee was doing the same thing. The realization caused a lump to form in her throat. She swallowed that lump, picked up a cinnamon roll and muttered, "Thank you."

"No problem," said Lenalee, the smile returning to her face. This one was warm.

Once the girl returned to her spot, Miranda took a bite of the roll. She was suddenly hit with such a pang of hunger, she wondered how she hadn't noticed how ravenous she'd been. She practically gobbled up the food. Lenalee just laughed and passed her another doughnut.

The time passed fairly quickly, actually. Miranda dozed off against the clock a fair few times, and each time was a welcome respite from the pain. The hurt didn't get any worse, but it didn't lessen either, and she wondered what the hell Allen was doing. Timcanpy too. The golem had been mysteriously absent both while they had been eating the doughnuts and when the parasitic types raided her kitchen later on. It had probably followed its master. The others stayed in the hall with her, only leaving for food, the bathroom, or random glances out the window. There was a little chatter, but it was mostly Lavi and Kanda squabbling over school, Link and Timothy interjecting their own opinions, and Lenalee and Alma just rolling their eyes and laughing. It wasn't half bad, to be honest. Her house seemed so much warmer with all these people inside. If only something could be done about the tension hanging over their heads….

Night had fallen, the fourth time she woke up. Other times she'd been woken by a twitch of her hand or foot, uncomfortable from sitting the same way for so long. This time, it was noise. Her brow furrowed as she rubbed at her eyes and muttered, "What's going on?"

"The Fallen One. Something's happening," said Lenalee.

It was at that point she realized that the others were gone, and Lenalee was hanging halfway out the door, looking off into the distance. A little disturbed, she forced herself to her feet. She expected parting with the clock to be painful, but to her surprise, it wasn't. There was a residual sting, but nothing else. Something really must've been happening. Had Allen managed to stop it? With that hope, she hurried over to Lenalee. The girl jumped and moved aside once she was level with her, and Miranda stepped outside. The others were standing on the lawn, staring off at the downtown area.

Among the lights of the remaining buildings, the glowing form of the Fallen One could still be seen. But more unexpected was the searing green light that trapped it. It looked like a hand, with long, sharp fingers that curled around the Fallen's body and kept it held firmly in place. The green limb was ablaze in a strange mix of fire and lightning, both of which sparked madly under the strain.

"That's Allen's arm, isn't it? Holy crap he's seriously pinning it down!" said Lavi, sounding impressed.

Well those claws may have been a different shape, but Miranda didn't know any other Innocence like that, so it had to be him. He was still alive, okay, and even winning. Her heart soared.

"He's winning, isn't he?" she said excitedly.

"Looks like it!" said Lavi.

"He's pushing too far!" said Alma.

"What do you mean?" said Lenalee.

"Allen's pushed his Innocence past their synchronization level! That's way too much power for him to handle!" said Alma, wringing his hands.

Miranda's heart came crashing back down.

"What does that mean?" she asked. "What happens when they pass their synchronization level?"

"It's practically suicide!"

Far away, a surge went through the glowing arm. It swelled, lightning crackling even stronger and farther before it cut out completely. The green light fell apart and vanished. Alma made a strangled sound.

"Was that good or bad?" said Lavi, looking back with a stunned look on his face.

"Bad. Really, really bad."

There was a flash, and a tower of light shone down on the Fallen One. This wasn't the blue limbs it had produced before, but a glow that shone like a spotlight as the Fallen burst into white flame. Debris lifted up, swirling with a strange wind around the creature as it burned. The Fallen One was falling apart, its body burning away into nothing. Had Allen's attack triggered its destruction?

It blazed for a long time, and they could do nothing but watch. Finally, as the last of it began to disappear, yet another light shone. It was big and bright enough that it covered Miranda's vision entirely, and burned at her eyes so the blue remained even when she closed them. Blinking them open again, it took a little while for everything to focus, and when it did, everything was gone. The Fallen One was nowhere to be seen. There was no light over downtown, and it seemed darker than ever before.

It took a long time for them to say anything.

"Now what?" said Timothy.

Alma jumped, but came to his senses and said, quietly, "We wait for news."

"News? What kind of news? Either he's dead or he isn't!" said Kanda.

"News on his condition. Timcanpy's going to contact us soon about what happened. Nothing can keep that golem down very long, so we're guaranteed a transmission," said Alma. "Come on. Let's go back inside, there's nothing else to see out here."

Slowly, reluctantly, they all filtered back into the house. They stood awkwardly in the entry hall as they had for most of the day, unnaturally quiet because no one could think of what to say. Miranda stood by the clock and began to trace its face. The pain was fading quickly from her body, and she guessed the Innocence was healing up fast. When she touched the clock, she felt something like gratitude sink into her mind. She gave a shaky sigh, and leaned her forehead against it.

_Please, please let Allen be okay_, she thought desperately. _Let him be safe. Let him come back. He can't die here. He means too much_…

The clock hit eight-thirty, and she wondered if the chimes were meant to be reassuring.

It had to be forty-five minutes later when something crashed into the door. Miranda jumped and her head whipped around so hard it hurt her neck a bit.

"What was that?" said Timothy, a little high-pitched.

Alma moved to open the door, but before he could reach it, there was a noise outside.

_ABATA…URA…MASARAKATO…!_

The door fell inwards. As it clattered on the floor, Timcanpy flapped through the doorway. The golem was scuffed a bit, but otherwise completely undamaged. Its teeth were bared, and it was making little grumbling sounds.

"Timcanpy!" cried Miranda, a smile breaking over her face. "Thank goodness!" Timcanpy spotted her, and flew into her outstretched hands. She cradled it close and said, "I was getting worried. I'm so glad you're back! Allen's not far behind you, is he?"

Timcanpy trembled against her fingers. It lurched once, twice, three times, before it jerked harshly upwards, spitting something out into her hands. It hovered up and out of the way as Miranda stared stupidly at the thing she held. It was a piece of Innocence. The little cube was glowing just a bit differently than Lala's had been, the light less glowing radiance, and more like the odd sparkling of a firework. It felt different too. It didn't make her happy. The sight of it made a chill go down her spine.

"W-what is this?" she breathed.

Another hand cupped hers from beneath, and Alma leaned in to inspect it better. He touched the shard with one finger and closed his eyes.

"It's Suman's. Suman's Innocence," he whispered.

"So… he's dead?" said Miranda.

"Yeah."

"But why does Timcanpy have it?"

"Allen probably salvaged it from the wreckage of the Fallen One. Tim can't hold more than one piece of Innocence for very long, though. Why didn't Allen just carry it?" Alma mused.

Timcanpy bobbed about their heads as the others came closer. It was insistent, and it began to tug at Alma's fringe to draw their attention. Alma winced and glared up at the golem.

"What is it?"

Timcanpy swerved off and opened its mouth. Light flickered from inside, and after a moment, it began to project something on the wall. It was an image of Allen, kneeling on the ground in the shadow of what looked like a coffee shop. He was mostly in the dark, so it was a bit hard to see, but his back was hunched, and he clutched his left arm as if in pain. The sleeve on that arm was torn away completely, and the arm below was much too dark. It wasn't even red anymore. It was black, twisted oddly so the hand was at the wrong angle, and if Miranda saw correctly, it appeared to be _flaking_. His face was pinched, and he seemed to be looking at something in the distance to his right.

"Go," he said hoarsely. It sounded like he'd been yelling a lot. "Quickly. Take the Innocence and go."

Their viewpoint shook from side to side quickly, making Miranda dizzy.

"Go. Without you the golem network goes down. Besides, what if Suman's Innocence is the Heart? You have to bring it back. It can't fall into their hands. Please. Go. _Go_."

After a moment, their sight tilted down, and they could see the Innocence that was now in Miranda's hands. The scene darted forward, flaring green and giving them a good look at the sidewalk before veering off again, showing ruined buildings and then the night sky before cutting out. Timcanpy closed its mouth, and the light vanished.

"The hell? What was that about?" said Lavi.

"Them," said Kanda, rounding on Alma. "He said 'them'. What did he mean by that?"

"The Akuma and Noah, obviously," said Alma. "But for him to be saying that…"

"He can't move, can he?" said Miranda. The sight of his twisted arm was burned into her mind. He was hurt and alone in the middle of the destruction. Alma had said he'd practically committed suicide. He was still alive now, but would his Innocence drain him like Suman's and Miranda's had done? "We have to do something. Timcanpy can lead us to him. K-Kanda, your car…."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," said Alma.

"What do you…"

"Even if you feel better, your Innocence took a toll, and it's still recovering," Alma said determinedly, grasping her shoulders and steering her into the living room. "You are going to stay here, where it's safe. I'll go after Allen."

He sat her down on the couch, and she spluttered incoherently.

"Then we'll go with you," said Lavi, stepping in after them.

"No, you'll stay here with Miranda and the Innocence. There's no way we can afford to lose them now," said Alma.

"But you need help getting to Allen, don't you?" said Lavi.

"I'll get there a lot faster flying on my own, and I'm still an Angel. If an Akuma gets in my way, I shouldn't have a problem. Miranda's the one who needs protection, and you'll only slow me down."

"Are you insulting us?" Kanda snarled.

"No, I'm stating fact," said Alma. "Just stay here, and-"

There was an odd noise. Miranda couldn't quite figure out the source, but it sounded like popping. The TV flickered; static filled the air as snow covered the screen. A few snatches of sound came through, and a picture shifted in and out of view, warped and blurred. But after a few moments, both video and audio quality got a boost. A few more crackles, and they could see the man onscreen.

It was the man Lenalee's golem had shown them. He'd ditched the glasses and piggy bank, and now his skin was a dark, stony gray. Between the curls of his bangs a set of dark crosses could be glimpsed. His yellow eyes shone bright in his dim surroundings. His wide grin, too, seemed a bit too luminous as he smiled directly at them.

"N-Noah!" Lenalee gasped.

"Is that true?" Miranda whispered. It seemed glaringly obvious, but she didn't want to believe it.

"Yeah, it's Tyki Mikk. Looks like he's making contact through a golem," said Alma, stance rigid.

And now that he mentioned it, they seemed to be viewing it from a golem's perspective, just like in Timcanpy's recording, but at a point just taller than Tyki's head.

"Why's he making contact, though?" said Lavi, perplexed.

"Tyki likes to do things on a grand scale. Since Suman's been defeated, he's probably going to gloat about his victory," said Alma.

"Good evening, accommodators," said Tyki, and even through the TV his voice was attractive as his looks. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm broadcasting this."

"Broadcasting?" Link muttered, and as if he could hear them, Tyki laughed.

"That's right, this message is being broadcasted to every screen in the city. See, I don't know where you're hiding out, but I know you'd _love_ to see this."

His tone was dark, mocking. It filled Miranda with foreboding. By the arm of the couch, Kanda flipped open his phone. The Noah's image popped up there too, the voice echoing milliseconds after the one on TV. He shut the phone, but the little screen on the front showed the same picture, despite having no sound. Kanda scowled.

"Suman has fallen. But you see, he's not the only one who did."

Their viewpoint changed. It seemed the golem had flapped away to focus on someone else. This someone was laying spreadeagled on the ground, sprawled out like a discarded doll, pale hair like a halo about his head, but steadily staining red with blood. Lenalee gasped, Timothy made a strange noise, and Miranda felt like her heart missed several vital beats. _Allen_. For a split second she thought he was dead, but no. His right leg was twitching oddly, and his blackened left arm was spasming too. His chest rose and fell with his ragged breathing, the air hissing out through clenched teeth as he glared defiantly at the Noah.

"I'm sure you recognize this one," said Tyki, circling around Allen's supine form and balancing what looked like a checkered playing card on two fingers. "Allen Walker, apprentice to 'General' Marian Cross. Quite the record of crimes against the Earl. I've seen him once or twice before, but I never would've thought he was the General's apprentice. Such a pity Suman spilled the beans, eh?"

"Bastard," Allen hissed, but his voice was faint.

"Call me all the names you want, it won't change your friend's incompetence," Tyki quipped.

Allen made as if to get up and attack, but couldn't seem to get himself off the ground. He settled for shuddering violently and cursing under his breath. The blood must've all been his. He was too weak to run. He couldn't even move. Horror began to take hold in the back of Miranda's mind. She began to shake.

"The General's apprentice. He's not an Angel yet, but he's pretty important, isn't he? Maybe he was one of your leaders, or maybe an informant. I hear he's good with that," said Tyki. "Now what would you do if you lost him?"

"No…" Miranda whispered. Her eyes grew wide, and she gripped the Innocence so hard, it was a miracle it didn't break.

"Shit," Alma whispered, "Shit, shit, shit…."

"Alma?" Timothy said uncertainly, fisting a trembling hand in the other's shirt. "He's not really… Allen's not gonna…."

Onscreen, Tyki stopped pacing. There was a moment of no movement, and then he swooped down. He hefted Allen up by the front of his jacket, so his torso left the ground, and put his other hand on the left shoulder. There was a flash of confusion on Allen's face, but then the screaming began. Vivid purple light flared under Tyki's hand with a high pitched shrilling sound, sending little bolts of its energy streaking out like lightning. Allen let out a long, terrible scream. It was loud, and it wavered at times, but it didn't stop. He tried to struggle, and the pain let him thrash a bit, but he couldn't escape. His arm bulged under the light, bubbling and swelling, before there was another flash of light, and the scream died off with a yelp. When the light was gone, Miranda's hands flew to her face. Allen's arm was lying a few feet away from its socket, distorted and blackened to the point it barely looked like an arm anymore. Allen himself had been dropped on the ground again, and lay completely still. He stared at the arm in disbelief. Tyki straightened up and began to walk over to the arm, more of the purple energy sparking in his hand.

"I'm sure you know this by now, boy, but the Clan of Noah can destroy Innocence."

"Stop," Allen whispered. It was barely audible over the TV, but his voice sounded horrified. Tears pricked at Miranda's eyes as her nails dug into her cheeks.

"Do you think yours is the Heart, perhaps? There's no real way to tell. But you seem to fit the description the Earl gave us well enough. Good standing among the rebels, but not to the point it would be obvious…. You're a prime candidate. I suppose we'll know once I destroy it. If our little audience loses their powers, then that'll be the sign," said Tyki.

"Stop," Allen whispered again.

Tyki held his hand over the arm, keeping an eye on Allen as the word became a mantra.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop…."

He sounded increasingly desperate as the light built in Tyki's outstretched hand. Tyki grinned even wider. More of the lightning shot down out of his grip, and hit the arm with the same sound it had made previously. The limb flailed oddly on its own in the light and began to break apart.

"Stop, stop, _STOP_!" Allen wailed, hitting a shrill note that made Miranda's hair stand on end.

Tyki outright laughed as the arm broke completely. A small green shard, a tiny cross, leapt up into the air as if to escape, but he caught it easily and closed his fist around it. The light vanished, and Allen inhaled sharply.

"Bye bye, Innocence."

The light blazed back into existence. It crackled madly for a minute more, then stopped again. Tyki let his fingers slowly uncurl, and through them spilled a shimmering green dust. It sifted down quietly through the air, glimmering faintly, sadly, and disappeared before it hit the ground. Allen was making small, choked noises, sounding disbelieving, frightened, and just about ready to cry.

"Well? Was it the Heart?" said Tyki, looking up at the golem relaying the message.

"It wasn't," said Lavi. Out the corner of Miranda's eye, she could see he had the hammer in a trembling death grip.

Onscreen, Tyki waited for a little while more, as if expecting a response. Soon, he shrugged and said, "Oh well. Destroying the Heart wasn't among my orders anyway."

"You won't find it," Allen murmured.

"Hm?" said Tyki, turning around.

Allen looked dead now. Like a hollow person. Even his voice lacked life as he repeated, "You won't find the Heart."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" said Tyki, squatting down next to him.

"The Heart's special. It won't reveal itself to just anyone. You have to be a special person to find it, and you're the wrong kind of special," said Allen, smiling wryly.

"And I suppose you're the right kind?" said Tyki.

"Maybe."

Tyki snorted mockingly.

"Like I said before, the Heart's not one of my big problems right now. I'm only here to erase certain people, and you, boy, are next on the list," he said.

"No," said Miranda. "No, he can't…."

But he could, and he did. Tyki plunged his hand right into Allen's chest. He must've chosen 'not to touch,' because there was no spurt of blood, but it still wasn't anything good. Allen shrieked, back arching off the ground. The fingers of his remaining hand curled in pain, and his legs kicked madly. He coughed and choked, spitting blood in between his cries. Tyki just grinned, continuing to root around in the boy's chest cavity.

Miranda let out a wail to match Allen's, and brought her forehead to her knees as she sobbed. She couldn't watch this. It was flat out torture. She just sat there and trembled, eyes tightly closed, and hating herself for not being able to do anything, until the sounds of Allen's struggle began to grow faint. Faint. He couldn't actually be dying, could he? She looked up, afraid of what she might see.

Allen's body was still moving. It convulsed weakly a few more times before going completely still. Miranda's breath caught in her throat as she prayed for him to move, to give some sort of sign he was still alive. He didn't.

"I suppose that hurt," Tyki mused. "But don't worry, it's all over now. That's it." He pulled his hand out and sat back on his haunches, looking down at the body with something akin to fondness. "Have a nice dream."

Allen didn't stir, and Miranda felt something inside her break.

The one who'd come to save her from the repeating hell.

The one who had guided them.

The one who had given her strength.

The one who made her feel safe and worthy of existing.

The one who'd said _thank you_.

He was dead.

* * *

A picture frame toppled off the nightstand without warning. Krory yelped and tried to catch it, but tripped over a pair of skates and missed. The frame hit the tile floor and the glass inside smashed. Krory gave it a sad, sad look from his place sprawled amidst the junk.

"Watch it, Count!" said the blond boy behind him, looking down at him with something like exasperation. "God knows what the hell's in here now."

"O-of course, Narain…" Krory mumbled, pushing himself up again. He had to be careful not to knock anything else over.

"Geez," said Narain, shaking his head as he set down the box in his arms.

Krory had met Narain the same way he'd met most of the people in Headquarters- through Allen and his enormous stomach. On one of the first days Krory had been there, Allen had eaten something weird and come down with a stomachache, and had to visit the medical wing. Narain was one of the assistants, and had been the only one around to help, and he was actually a good friend of Allen's in the first place. Since then he'd become a pseudo-friend of Krory's as well, but he was still like most of the others. He seemed to think Krory was a bumbling, naive idiot. Honestly, Allen seemed to be the only one who thought otherwise.

"Remind me why we're in here again?" Krory said sullenly, eyes roving over the boxes and clutter. There appeared to be an iron maiden, a scythe, and several torture instruments scattered amidst the innocent-looking cardboard and papers.

"Because Liza went and lost the medical records on Alma," Narain replied. "It's pretty distinctive, and it can't be anywhere else."

Well, if it had been lost in the past week it certainly couldn't be anywhere else. Allen had been gone all that time, and once people noticed he was missing, they swooped in and made his bedroom the dumping ground. It was probably because Allen was a softie. He'd see the mess, give a heavy sigh, and set to work cleaning it all out without any more complaints. He was much too passive on things like this… though truthfully, Krory would probably act the same. He wished Allen would return soon. It was lonely without him around, and every day he was gone was another day of junk dumped in the room. At this point the bed was completely hidden, the black and white checked floor barely visible, and that strange creepy painting could only be glimpsed on the wall.

"Allen's going to get a nasty shock when he comes home," Krory said under his breath, sweeping the skates and a feathered mask aside with his foot.

"Yeah, no kidding," Narain said with a laugh, digging into one of the files that had spewed its contents under the dresser. "Now come on! Records, records, records…."

He felt a little guilty about it, but Krory had no interest in Alma's medical records. He knelt down beside the picture frame and began to pick up the glass shards instead, taking care not to cut himself.

"Are you sure you have no idea where General Cross is?" he tried again, as he had for the past three hours.

"You seriously think I'd know?" said Narain. He pulled up a certain paper, squinted at the picture there, and tossed it aside. "Trying to find the General is like trying to rope a lion with your bare hands."

"So there's a possibility," said Krory.

Narain shot him a look.

"Without Innocence enhancement."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Hang on, this one's your file! And that's Maria's… How many of these things did she take?"

The boy foraged about under the dresser, pulling out black papers with what looked like chalk drawings on them, muttering all the while about novice nurses and their incompetence. Krory sighed dejectedly. Once the glass was in a nice pile in his palm, he dumped it into a gourd nearby and picked up the frame. The picture fluttered out, and he made two wild grasps before he caught it. He flipped the picture over to get a better look at it.

There were three people in the picture. Two of them were immediately recognizable- that mane of vivid red could only be Cross, and that mask looked eerily familiar to Maria's. The third, however, was a man a few inches shorter than Cross. His hair was dark and slicked back, and he appeared to be wearing a clown's face paint, in contrast to the impeccable shirt and vest he wore beneath. He smiled eerily, eyes glittering with a laughter that mimicked his painted smile. Krory didn't recognize him.

Deciding this didn't belong to Allen (the boy seemed to hate Cross' guts, so why would he have a picture of the guy?), Krory set it back in the frame and balanced it on a ramshackle bookshelf. He shuffled back to help Narain with the medical files, and resolved to ask the head nurse about Cross' whereabouts.

The man with the painted face grinned at his back.

* * *

And that's chapter 11. I would like to point out now that while there are twists, I'm following canon. You hear that? Please don't stop reading after this chapter! Allen's still listed as a main character for a reason!

Alma's wings come from the illustration on the back of vol. 21. He doesn't actually have them in the manga, but they looked too cool.

I hated writing this chapter. One of the reasons is the time skips- usually that's when I change POVs, but I wanted to stick with Miranda the whole time in this one. So it just dragged out… and trying to capture Tyki's attack in words is hard… plus there's so much unexplained since none of the characters were actually in the middle of the fight with Suman. Dear god.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews! And extra thanks to _D Gray-Man 411 Critic _(which the site won't let me spell correctly) for featuring this story in their forum! Looking at that made my _year_.


	12. The Man Who Came Back

This dream was so dark. Inky black. Absolute darkness… or it would've been, but there were shapes moving in the shadows there too. They rustled and shuddered like leaves in a breeze, making a clacking, clanking chorus of sound. Miranda didn't know what they were, but they weren't anything good. She shrank away from them, but they were everywhere, circling her, cutting off any escape.

Suddenly something came up behind her, bright as a beacon in the dark. It took a second for her to realize it was Allen, his hair a blinding white. He looked worried, and he was saying something, but while his mouth moved, she couldn't hear a word. She opened her mouth to ask what he was saying, but the rustling increased all at once like a thunderclap. Allen barked something out, a warning, but it was too late.

The things around them sprang out of the dark, and Miranda saw what they were. They were skulls, a deep dark purple, larger than a human head, and bearing fangs instead of normal teeth. Despite having no limbs or other form to propel themselves, they shot forward with banshee shrieks. Allen darted in front of her, like he was trying to protect her, but there were too many, coming from too many directions. The skulls smashed into them and sank their teeth into any flesh they could, biting and tearing and ripping. Miranda screeched and flailed in vain. The teeth sank deeper and deeper, crushing and shredding. Allen screamed. Most of the skulls seemed to be targeting him, and though he fought, he was quickly disappearing beneath them. Miranda watched in horror as his tortured face was blocked from view.

And she hated herself for it, but all she could think of was that his scream sounded oddly melodic.

It was beautiful.

* * *

The alarm was beeping incessantly, but its owner made no move to turn it off. Instead Miranda sat, huddled in her blankets like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Her eyes were closed, her knees tucked under her chin, and she was praying desperately for a change.

Allen was dead.

He seemed to have taken all her hope with him, too. She couldn't convince herself to leave her bed, and any thoughts of doing so were fleeting anyway. There wasn't any use. She might as well languish here until things solved themselves. Not like she could do anything about it anyway. Besides, leaving her bed would mean having to face reality in a way she wanted to avoid at all costs.

The previous night, while she'd been sobbing away on Lenalee's shoulder, she'd heard Alma whispering to the others. She probably wasn't meant to hear it.

"Okay, we need to get here tomorrow morning as soon as possible," Alma had whispered urgently. "Skip breakfast. Come in your pajamas if you have to. Just get here quick."

"Why? Do you think that Noah found our location?" Lavi murmured.

"No. The problem is that the rewind's still going."

"So?"

"People may not be coming back to life, but they're popping up right back where they began in the morning. How do you think Miranda will react, waking up alone with a corpse in her house?"

The clock read 6:30 now, and no one had arrived yet (they probably hadn't counted on her irregular sleeping habits). She really was alone with a corpse. Allen…. The _body_ was probably on the couch, where Allen had been sleeping the past few days. She didn't want to go out there. She didn't want to face that. So she just kept her eyes closed and wished for this horrible reality to go away.

There was a rustling sound, and she whimpered, pressing her face harder against her knees. Something swished over the sheets, and she felt something cold against her foot. She peeked out of her blankets. Timcanpy sat on the bed in front of her, its round body next to her exposed toes, close enough that she could feel the chill off of it. For a creature without a face, it was doing a marvelous job of looking depressed. Its body, usually propped up by its tiny legs, was actually laid down on the sheets and tipped a bit forward. Its wings drooped in a way metal shouldn't be able to manage, its tail completely limp.

Miranda reached out a hand and touched it. She almost drew back at the cold, but the golem leaned into the touch and she paused.

"Oh," she muttered, "you miss him too, don't you?"

Timcanpy stirred a bit, and she supposed that was agreement. She picked it up with both hands and brought it into the cocoon to hold against her chest. The golem was freezing. She half-wondered if it had been outside. In any case, she hugged it close, and it snuggled into her arms.

"I know," she whispered. "I wish it was yesterday too."

Its tail twitched halfheartedly.

* * *

"Get up!"

Kanda grumbled, trying in vain to block out the noise and light.

"Get up, I said! Are you going to laze about all day?" the voice insisted, and the bed jerked like someone had kicked it.

Kanda snarled, whipped the pillow out from below his head, and chucked it as hard as he could. It gave a loud _whump_ as it made contact with something. He didn't open his eyes at all, so it wouldn't be surprising if he'd missed his target entirely. He flopped back onto the bed and gravitated to the other pillow, trying to hide his head under it to drown out the disturbance. He didn't know why he was so tired, but he was dead beat and hell if he was going to let someone drag him out of bed before he was good and ready. It was as he decided this that he realized the pillow he was seeking was rather bony. In fact, it felt like it had a ribcage.

"Gee, Yu," said a half-groggy, half-annoyed voice, "never knew you felt that way."

Damn that rabbit!

He let out a barrage of curses (muffled by what he now realized was Lavi) and lashed out. Lavi yelped as he was shoved out of bed again. Alas, he took the blankets with him, and the cold air bit at Kanda's body. He curled up quickly and finally opened his eyes, glaring at the others with as much venom as he could summon at the moment. Link glared right back, clutching the pillow so hard it might've begun to tear. Lavi sat up on the floor and gave them all a furious look.

"Okay, first," he snapped, "what the hell, Link, what the hell. Golems have got to have some kind of alarm clock. Use it. I'm sick of your bedside manner. And you," he pointed at Kanda, "calm down. Stop kicking me out of my own damn bed. And for god's sake, never cuddle me like that again. It was freaking weird."

"I don't _cuddle_," Kanda spat, bristling.

"Oh, you'd be surprised…"

"We don't have time for this!" said Link. "Get up and get dressed, we have to leave."

"Ugh. What's the hurry?" Lavi drawled.

"What's the hurry? Allen Walker is dead! We have to get to that woman's house before she suffers a breakdown and lets a bloodthirsty Noah and its army loose on the world!" Link seethed.

Silence followed as the memories came flooding back. The beansprout was dead. Suman became a Fallen One and tore downtown to pieces. Tyki Mikk running around unchecked and probably hunting for them. Shit. Kanda sat up immediately.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly seven."

"What time does Miranda wake up?" he asked, getting out of bed.

"It's different every day. I think her alarm's set to eight or something though," said Lavi, trying to stand up. Unfortunately for him the blankets were still tangled around him, and he tripped. He grabbed the desk on the way down, sending a water bottle and a notebook to the floor while the golems took flight to escape. Atuuda wound slowly around the ceiling, looking completely at ease while the others fluttered in panic. "I'm fine, nice of you guys to ask," Lavi grumbled, heaving himself up again.

"That was your own damn fault," said Kanda, scouring the floor for his shoes.

"Just hurry up. I'm going to be out by the elevators. If you're not there in ten minutes, I swear to god I'll bind your weapons and kick you out the window," said Link.

He left in a huff, slamming the door behind him. Atuuda flicked its tail in annoyance at being left behind.

"Traitor," Lavi muttered at it. It paid him no mind, instead choosing to slide into the mirror in the closet and vanish. "I wish that golem never found him…."

"Get moving," said Kanda, finally locating his shoes near the foot of the bed. "Two-spot's right, we have to get over there fast."

"Yeah, that Innocence is linked to her, isn't it?" Lavi mused, pulling off his shirt. "If she cracks, it'll break too, huh?"

"Maybe."

Kanda waited impatiently by the door as Lavi slunk around the room.

"Hey."

"What?" Kanda grunted.

"What do you think we're going to do without the beansprout? He was kind of our trump card, wasn't he?" said Lavi.

Kanda was a little thrown off by the use of 'beansprout' (did Lavi really not notice it was an insult, not a nickname?), but quickly frowned.

"He wasn't our trump card."

"Really?" said Lavi, smiling sarcastically. "Let's see what he's done so far. He got us all in a group. He set up the communications between us. He brought out our weapons and told us how to use them. He tracked down Akuma for us. He warned us what we were up against. He fought a Fallen One and was left standing…"

"He wasn't standing after that Noah found him," Kanda snapped. "So he did some shit. So what? Doesn't make him a trump card. Besides, he's dead now. Move on."

Damn, he really was coldhearted, wasn't he? He felt a twinge of guilt about the beansprout, but he squashed it quickly. The beansprout was only one of many people killed. No use dwelling on him.

"Hard to move on when we've still got to deal with him," said Lavi.

Deal with him? Kanda gave him an odd look, but realization dawned just before the other answered, "What're we supposed to do with the body? We've got to get it out of the way somehow."

Well god damn. When he was younger Kanda had given a little thought to offing a few particularly annoying people (Daisya and Alma chief among them- those memories caused another painful twinge), but had never come to a conclusion on where to stash the bodies. He'd been so creative back then, but that one step had always eluded his childish brain, just as it was doing right now.

"Throw him out in the street? Not like there aren't a bunch out there already," he suggested uncomfortably.

"So long as Miranda and the others don't see him," said Lavi.

He sounded oddly calm about dumping a body. Calm and detached now, like he hadn't even known the beansprout. Like it was throwing away garbage instead of a comrade. It made Kanda's hair stand on end, and suddenly he wasn't relaxed no matter how he stood. Lavi pulled on his bandana, looking nothing like his usually cheerful self, and made for the door.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

Kanda hesitated, but followed. Once the door was locked, they walked down to the elevators. Link was there, of course. The blond eyed them like a hawk, and seemed to pick up on something wrong, too. He tensed up like he was ready for a fight, eyes locking on Lavi. In return, Lavi just raised an eyebrow.

"Are we going or not?" he said flatly.

Link huffed.

"After you."

Kanda scowled and led the way into the elevator, shoving his hands into his pockets. He gripped his car keys tightly as the others got in, like it would keep him grounded. He didn't even know why he was feeling so skittish, and he hated it. His golem wormed its way into his collar again and settled against his pulse. It was warm, and despite its position, Kanda felt a little better.

It was nearly forty minutes later that Kanda parked his car in Miranda's driveway. He pulled out the keys and glared at the gaggle of children on the lawn. Damn brats were more trouble than they were worth. Why were they always there? He kicked his door open in a sudden fit of rage. Maybe it was a result of the tense atmosphere he'd been driving in, but he just couldn't stand the sight of them.

The kids jumped at the noise. Their expressions were curious, but quickly turned to fear as Kanda stormed toward them. He held Mugen over his head and let out a roar. The children screamed and tore off. Much to Kanda's annoyance, though, they just regrouped across the street and continued to stare, this time wide-eyed and shaking. He debated going over there to scare them off properly, but it turned out he didn't need to. A green blur shot out of the sky and landed in front of the children. The figure rose up and gave a screech of their own. The kids screamed again and scattered for good this time. Lenalee (it couldn't be anyone else with those boots, even if her hair was down) put her hands on her hips and turned around. She looked pissed off.

"I am sick of those kids," she muttered darkly, stomping over to the car.

Kanda let his arms drop to his sides and eyed her warily.

"What's wrong with you this morning?" he asked.

"Miranda doesn't need to deal with those little twerps. Have you heard them sing about her? Unbelievable!" she fumed.

Kanda had heard no such song, and decided to stay quiet. She looked ready to kick someone, and he didn't want to end up making himself a target. She took a few deep breaths and asked, "Is Alma here yet?"

"Hell if I know, we just got here," said Kanda.

"I guess we'll find out," Lavi said dully, trudging up to the door. Lenalee glanced from him to Kanda.

"Um… is he okay? He seems… off…" she said softly.

"'Off' is putting it lightly," said Kanda, but he said nothing else. He had no idea what Lavi's mental state was, and didn't even want to try guessing.

Meanwhile, Lavi had opened the door but stopped halfway through.

"What's the holdup?" said Link, walking closer to peer over his shoulder. Kanda and Lenalee walked up behind him, and the obstacle became visible.

Miranda was in the entrance hall, clinging to the clock like she was going to try to pick the thing up and carry it away, looking at them with panicked eyes. She was still in her pajamas, hair uncombed, and Timcanpy was stuck in her dark curls, flapping its wings wildly.

"The hell are you doing?" said Kanda.

"I… I heard noise outside. Like roaring. I-um, well… I thought maybe it was an Akuma," she said shakily.

Kanda hadn't realized he was so loud. Apparently Lenalee didn't either, because she ducked under Lavi's arm and hurried to the woman's side, saying, "Oh, that was us! I didn't think…. I'm so sorry we scared you like that! Don't worry, there aren't any Akuma. We're all safe here."

"Oh, good," Miranda sighed, and Timcanpy stopped its struggles. Lenalee smiled softly at this reaction.

"You doing okay?" she asked.

"F-fairly well, all things considering," said Miranda. Her eyes moved, almost glancing back at the living room before snapping back to the front again. She looked a little ill.

Kanda felt his frown deepen, and he pushed past the others into the living room. He didn't know what he'd do faced with a corpse, but there was no way he was going to dance around the subject like the others seemed ready to do. He heard someone call after him in surprise, but he just stomped over to the couch. There was a heap of purple blankets and pillows piled on the ugly patterned cushions. He grabbed the comforter and ripped it away before he could give it any second thoughts. For a moment he froze, hand in the air and staring down at the couch.

There was no body. There was an indent in the pillow like a head had recently rested there, but beyond that, there was no sign anyone had been there. No body. No blood. Nothing.

Kanda turned and shook the blanket at the others, saying, "What the hell is going on? What did you do with the body?"

"W-what? Me?" said Miranda, stunned.

Of course her, she was the only one there to do anything! And here they'd been all worried she'd break down looking at it…

"I didn't do anything! I was in my room until I heard all that noise! I-I didn't even see what was on the couch!" said Miranda.

"You mean you ran past it and didn't even…"

"I didn't want to see!" she shrieked. She slumped against the clock, screwing up her face as tears started to go down her cheeks. "I didn't want to see it… I didn't want to see him like that…" she sobbed.

Well crap. He hadn't meant to make her cry. A crying woman was one of those things he just didn't know what to do with. He just stood there rigidly, brain on shutdown while Lenalee attempted to comfort her. Lavi walked over. The dead look he'd had the entire trip over was beginning to fade. Kanda was half-convinced the redhead was going to try scolding him, but Lavi just looked down at the empty spot.

"He's not here…" he said dazedly. "Allen… he's really not here."

"We've covered that," Kanda snapped.

"Well if he's not here, where is he? The rewind's still going, isn't it?" said Lavi.

"It is," said Link, with a quick glance down. "Paper says November twenty-fourth."

"Then he should've popped up here!" said Lavi, scratching at his head in confusion and frustration. "What the hell is going on now?"

Kanda flicked at his earlobe. His nail clacked against the communicator, a sharp retort that echoed in everyone's ears as it switched on.

"Oi, Alma," he growled. "What's screwing with us now?"

"Screwing?" Alma's voice echoed faintly.

"Yeah! The beansprout's not here!" said Kanda, gesturing angrily at the couch. Being in a different location Alma didn't see this, but the words were enough.

"Not there?" he said sharply.

"Not. Here," Kanda ground out.

"B-but… that can't… crap. Give me a minute, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Shouldn't you be here already?" said Kanda.

"I said I'll be right there!" Alma retorted, and the communication was dropped.

Kanda grumbled and kicked the back of the couch in frustration. He glared down at the blanket and finally tossed it onto the armchair, before stalking back toward the door to wait. If Alma didn't show up soon, he was going to smash something. He didn't know what yet, but he'd come up with something.

* * *

Miranda didn't know whether she wanted to go over to the living room or not. She desperately wanted to know if Kanda was telling the truth. If Allen wasn't there, wasn't there a chance he was alive somewhere in Mater? It was an outrageous idea, but… maybe they hadn't seen what actually happened on TV? She wanted to go over there to check… but she felt safe, here with Lenalee's hand on her shoulder, surrounded by the group. If she went over there and Kanda was wrong, she didn't think she could take it. Besides, Kanda and Lavi had drifted back from the living room. If she went in there, would that be taken as doubting Kanda's words? He was annoyed enough already, nothing good could come of angering him further.

She fretted until Lavi heaved a big sigh and leaned against the wall by the clock, effectively blocking her path. If she really wanted to, she could've gone around him, but his presence was enough to deter her. On the plus side, the unnerving aura he'd had when he came in was gone, and it was a look of puzzlement on his face now. There was a bit of hope in his eye, too. Maybe he was thinking the same as she was? She watched his eyebrows raise.

"Hey, is that an alarm?" he said.

For a moment Miranda didn't quite comprehend what he said, but then she gasped.

"O-oh! My alarm clock! I thought I turned it off!" No, she didn't. But she didn't need them to know it had been blaring for forty minutes or so. "I can go turn it off…"

"Hang on, I got this," said Lavi, grinning. He dug around in his scarf. Miranda watched bemusedly, unsure what he could possibly be looking for there, until he pulled out his golem. "Aha! Okay golem, let's do a test run. Go turn off the alarm clock," he said.

The golem fluttered above his palm, looking completely unimpressed. It hesitated, as if unable to believe he'd ordered it to do such a thing, but Timcanpy snarled quietly, and it got moving. It flapped away down the hall. They all watched it go.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" said Lenalee, looking dubious. "I know they can unlock things, but I'm not sure what they do to clocks…"

"What's the worst it can do?" said Lavi, shrugging.

From down the hall came a wave of static sound, followed by a clatter. The alarm stopped abruptly. Silence reigned as the golem flew back.

"I can probably pay for that," Lavi muttered.

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Miranda. "It's just going to fix itself in the next rewind."

"Still counting on that, huh?" he said, smiling wryly.

"I'm not feeling too optimistic, no," she said, forcing a small smile of her own.

The mere mention of optimism seemed to bring the mood down again. Lavi's face darkened slightly, and he resigned himself to watching his golem. Kanda scoffed quietly, while Link remained stoic. Miranda was very, very glad for Lenalee's hand on her shoulder. It made the situation just a little more comfortable.

The door swung open quickly, not with the same force it had the previous few days, but still enough to hit the wall. Alma strode in with Timothy in his arms. As he walked his Innocence deactivated, and Miranda was a little surprised to see that his clothes had small tears and grass stains. From the knee down on his right leg the cloth was missing entirely, the frayed edges stained with something dark. Those hadn't been there the previous day. What had he done to gain those?

"What took you so long?" said Kanda.

"Got ambushed by some Akuma," Alma replied, setting Timothy down. "Took me by surprise. I destroyed them, but still, roadblock. You okay, Miranda?"

A bit surprised by the attention, Miranda stuttered, "O-oh, I'm doing fine."

"She's not the problem. _That_ is the problem," said Kanda, gesturing at the couch.

"Right," said Alma, brow furrowing. He went over to the couch to investigate. Miranda watched him go, and jumped when something brushed against her hand. Timothy had squeezed between her and Lenalee (them being closest to the door and kinder-looking than Link) and grabbed at their hands. He was shaking. Lenalee dipped down to her knees and whispered a question to him, but he just shook his head and gripped them tighter.

Alma hummed over by the couch. He was squinting and patting the cushions lightly.

"Well?" said Lavi, leaning over the back to watch. "Did somebody kidnap the body while Miranda was sleeping or something?"

Miranda seriously doubted she'd sleep through it if someone broke in and carted off a body from her living room.

"No, I don't think he was here at all today," said Alma.

"Say what?" said Kanda.

"There's no trace of him," said Alma. "No blood. No hair. No sign of Innocence dust. There's a dent in the pillow, a blanket that looks like it was in the right spot… but nothing else. I can't pick up on his presence. Timcanpy, has he been here?"

Miranda felt the golem move on top of her head, tugging at her hair as it twisted left and right. That probably meant 'no.'

"That's what I thought," said Alma.

"So what does that mean? Where is he?" said Lavi, leaning further, to the point Miranda wouldn't be surprised if he lost balance entirely.

"I think he's out of reach of the rewind," said Alma, sitting back on his haunches.

"So now that he's dead, it doesn't affect him?" said Lavi.

"No, the dead are affected. Their bodies go back to where they started before. Go on and check the TV, it's probably causing a panic already," said Alma.

"Then how's he out of reach?"

"I think his body was pulled into the limbo," said Alma. When Lavi and Kanda raised their eyebrows, he continued, "Think about it. When people or things hop from one world to another, their starting places change. It's like their existence is reset. When I was in the limbo, the rewind sent me to the downtown area. Now that I'm in Mater, I'm rewinding back to Timothy's house. The golems are the same. Allen's the same. If he's in the limbo he won't be appearing here anymore."

"But then who pulled him into the limbo?" Lenalee piped up.

"Tyki, most likely," said Alma, scowling.

"But how…"

"There are probably a bunch of Akuma stationed in the limbo to pull him back through. The Noah won't let their kin run into battle without an escape route."

Silence fell for a moment. Timcanpy twitched on Miranda's head. She contemplated the information, unsure of what to think. After a while, Lavi asked, somewhat hesitantly, "So why would Tyki drag Allen's cold, bloody corpse with him to another world?"

Alma's face darkened, and Miranda had the childish urge to cover her ears, because there was no way she was going to like the news.

"It… it's nothing good."

"What does that mean?" said Lavi.

"I… I don't honestly know what they'll do with him. But… Allen… he… he was important to both sides. The Noah might let him rest in peace. They might experiment with… with his body. Or they could make an… example of him…"

Alma tilted his head back, blinking furiously, face set in a determined scowl. Poor boy must've been trying not to cry. Part of Miranda wanted to go over there and give him a hug, but her legs didn't want to move, and Timothy's hold kept her still. Kanda seemed to squirm at Alma's distress and blurted, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Allen was General Cross' apprentice, and even before that they knew each other for a while," Alma said quietly, squeezing his eyes shut. "It would be easy to think that Allen was probably one of the most important people in the world for Cross. Closest thing to family he had. Get him where it hurts. Break him."

"Gee, those Noah guys fight dirty, huh…" Lavi muttered.

"The Noah are practically demons themselves. Cold-hearted, vicious, selfish bastards.…"

Alma's voice cracked on the last words, and he buried his face in the couch cushions. He let out a long, angry, muffled noise. Kanda's expression wavered between disgust and flat-out discomfort. Lavi gave him a weird look.

"Uh… Alma? Dude… you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine!" Alma groaned.

"Really? 'Cause it doesn't look like…"

Alma lifted his head and fixed Lavi with a glare before hissing, "My best friend's been murdered. I _think_ I'm allowed to have a little breakdown!" before plunging it back into the cushions. The pillow bounced with the movement and ended up halfway on top of his head. He seemed ready to stay there for a while.

"Um," said Miranda, and all the others looked at her. She squirmed under the attention, but stuttered out, "W-what d-d-do we do now? We've only been hunting for Akuma, but we don't have Allen to track them down. Sh-should we be looking for Allen? Should we be looking for Akuma again? Trying to find the Heart?" She shrugged uselessly.

She really wanted to look for Allen. Rationality told her that he was gone, there was no point, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't quite let go. He'd been leading them for so long, she didn't know what to do with herself now that he was missing.

"Why look for a corpse?" said Kanda, looking more uncomfortable than ever, and Miranda recoiled. "Not like we can follow them to the limbo. Besides, it just saves us the trouble of finding some place to dump the body ourselves."

Alma looked absolutely furious. He shrieked something unintelligible and actually flipped the couch. Almost everyone squeaked in surprise, and Kanda and Lavi were both lucky enough to dance out of the way. The sofa hit the floor with a loud thunk where their feet had been. Alma clambered over it and grabbed Kanda's jacket. It was an odd role-reversal to see him shouting at the other, Kanda recoiling in surprise and what looked almost like fear.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Allen like he didn't mean anything to you! He saved your ass more times than you can probably count! He was brave and stupid and don't you _dare_ sully his memory!"

For a moment Kanda was stunned into silence, but the angry fire came back to his eyes and he grabbed Alma's arms, trying to twist them away as he bit back, "Don't you yell at me! I'm just saying the truth since everyone else is too chicken to-"

"You're freaking insulting him!" Alma screeched, fighting his grip. "You coldhearted bastard…"

"Why should I care?" Kanda roared, finally getting Alma's fingers out of his jacket. Soon it was a jumble of limbs between them, arms contorting, fingers curling and grasping oddly as they fought both to get at each other and defend at the same time, all the while grunting and hissing in anger. Miranda was reminded of a pair of fighting children. It looked completely stupid and immature, but the enraged expressions on their faces drained any humor from their actions.

"Allen was worth ten of you, you jerk!"

"So what? Doesn't change he's freaking dead!"

"Insensitive, moody, gloomy introvert!"

"Stalking creeper!"

"You're worse than you were ten years ago!"

"You're the one who stuck-"

"Don't you care about _anything_?"

"Why should I mourn the stupid beansprout?" Kanda yelled, "If I'm not mourning for Daisya, why the hell should some brat I met a few days ago be any different?"

"Who the hell is Daisya?" Alma shouted back.

"My freaking brother!"

Something like shock flitted across Alma's face, and Lenalee decided this was the time to intervene. She ran up and thrust her own hands into the mess between them, untangling their arms and pushing them back toward their owners. Kanda snarled and they both attempted to kick each other, but Lenalee planted herself in the middle and gave them both a glare that could've stopped a tank in its tracks. Needless to say, they froze.

"Stop it, both of you!" she snapped. "God, we get it! You hate each other! But I can't stand listening to this anymore! What are you even accomplishing with this stupid fight? You're driving each other away when you really need each other!"

"I don't need-" Kanda started, but Lenalee stood up to him, going on her tip-toes to cover the height difference as she glared.

"Stop. Lying. We've already lost Allen. I don't want to lose you or Alma just because you two can't get along like civilized people."

Kanda scowled, but was unable to come up with a retort, so he just looked away. Lenalee looked back at Alma, as if to challenge any complaint. Alma slouched, and made an obvious effort to school his face into something a little less murderous. He succeeded after a while, and Lenalee seemed satisfied.

The argument was over for the moment, but it was obvious to everyone that Lenalee's little intervention wouldn't last long. Hopefully it wouldn't come up again today, though. Miranda had no idea what kind of history they had, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

A few hours later, Miranda came to the conclusion that Akuma hunting wasn't anywhere near as easy as it had been with Allen around. Despite being an Angel, Alma was unable to sense an Akuma unless it was already up close and personal, and none of the others were even able to identify it that much. Alma had eventually come to the conclusion that he should act as a target- he would fly overhead, attracting the attention of whatever Akuma were laying in wait. Once an Akuma revealed itself and attacked, the rest of the group would swoop in. Not to kill it right away, though.

"We need to keep it alive," Alma had said seriously. "If we can get it to talk, we'll be able to find out what kind of plan the Noah have. Maybe we'll find the root of the problem and manage to destroy it there."

"It would be nice to know if Tyki's tracking us," Lenalee had agreed, and that settled it.

So now they were all in Kanda's car again, driving after Alma's path in the sky. Lavi was keeping an eye on their comrade above, while Kanda navigated the streets. It was harder to do than it should've been. It was like police and firetrucks and ambulances had come out of the woodwork. They could barely drive a block without one of them popping into view, either parked in the street or sirens blaring on their way to the next destination. Apart from them, there was an obvious lack of other people on the road today. It made Miranda shudder, in her place in the cramped backseat. Where were all the people? Had they all been killed by the Fallen and Akuma? It couldn't be. As far as she knew, nothing special had been happening downtown on November 24th, so it shouldn't have drawn a lot of crowds. Maybe everyone had heard of the number of dead people? That must've been what the emergency vehicles were investigating. If people didn't think it was safe, no wonder they weren't leaving their homes. The commotion must've been all over the news. And here they were, right in the middle of it…

"Stop squirming," said Link.

Miranda looked around in surprise. He frowned a little deeper and said, "It's already too crowded back here, you're making it worse."

Kanda's backseat, while meant to seat three people, currently had three people and a child crammed into it. It was a bit of a tight fit in the first place, and now she was making them all more uncomfortable!

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" she whimpered.

"It's okay, Miranda," said Lenalee. "Link's a man. He can suck it up."

Link looked affronted, and Timothy sniggered.

"True that!" said Lavi, shooting them a quick grin. Though he was in the front seat and away from their current predicament. Miranda was a little jealous of his spot, but as Kanda snarled something offensive and pulled over for _another god damn ambulance_, she decided she was better off as she was.

"So how long's this gonna take?" said Timothy, leaning forward. "We've been driving a long time."

"I don't know, maybe the rest of the Akuma are laying low," said Lavi.

"Obviously. If they really wanted to attack accommodators, we'd have found one already," Kanda growled, pulling back into the street. He was going near fifteen miles over the speed limit, but the police car that roared by spared him no attention.

"Well maybe Alma's getting a better view," said Lavi.

Miranda leaned across Lenalee to try to spot him, but Alma wasn't in her view.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"He's circling around ahead," said Lavi, squinting through the windshield. "Coming back around and… hang on…."

Miranda let out a squeak of alarm as Alma swooped down next to the window. He smiled at them, then tapped on Kanda's door. Kanda didn't bother to stop driving, but he hit a button and his window rolled down.

"What?" he snapped.

"Found one. It was flying toward downtown, didn't see me," said Alma.

"Any idea where it was headed?" said Lavi.

"Yeah. Someplace with a big floating pool," said Alma.

"Floating pool?" Miranda repeated, clueless.

It took a moment for it to register with the others, but Lavi snapped his fingers and said, "Oasis!"

"Oh!" said Lenalee, realization dawning.

And Miranda remembered. Oasis was a location downtown. In the middle of a giant cluster of expensive stores, there was an oval space. It was a big plaza, with a walkway up to the glass ceiling, where there was a shallow pool of water. Miranda had worked in a nearby shoe store for a while (needless to say she'd been fired), and remembered going there on her lunch breaks.

"Oh! That Oasis!" she said.

"Yeah. Kanda, you're gonna have to park near 32nd and Stonewall," said Lavi.

"I can't drive there?" Kanda said, nonplussed.

"It's smack dab in the middle of a mall, so no," said Lavi.

Kanda swatted at the dashboard in irritation.

"Malls! Malls! Every time, it's a freaking mall! I hate malls!" he grouched, and gave Miranda a glowering look. She squeaked again, wondering why he kept getting angry at _her_ of all people. But Timcanpy fluttered its wings tauntingly and she realized where his anger was really directed. Not that it made any more sense to her.

"Be a man and suck it up!" Lavi laughed. "Akuma like malls!"

"They can have the damn malls!"

"What do you have against malls?" said Alma, sounding genuinely curious.

In response, Kanda turned the wheel sharply. With a yelp from all passengers, the car swerved enough to knock into Alma, so he lost his balance. The car returned to its previous course while he floundered in the air. Once he regained control, he kicked a dent in Kanda's door and shouted, "Well, _excuse me_ for showing an interest in your sorry excuse for a life!"

He whapped the car with his tail for good measure (making it rattle dangerously), before letting out a huff and shooting upwards again.

"Dude!" said Lavi, looking stunned.

"That was completely out of line! Why the hell did you do that?" cried Lenalee, kicking the back of Kanda's chair.

"He asked for it," said Kanda.

"He did not!" said Lenalee.

Miranda just clung to the chair beneath her and whimpered, while Link rubbed circles on his temples.

It was nearly half an hour later that they entered the Oasis area. Kanda had reluctantly parked his car in the empty lot, and they made their way into the shopping building. All the stores were closed. The main lights in the hallway were on, but the windows were dark, grates pulled down to cover the doors. Their footsteps echoed along the wall eerily. Miranda felt very small in the emptiness, and the expensive price tags only made it worse. She avoided looking at the shops and focused on Kanda's swishing ponytail instead. He was practically speed walking, eager to leave the mall behind, she suspected. She had no problem with that, and none of the others voiced a complaint either. They rounded a corner as one of the signs instructed them, and at the end of this hallway, they spotted Alma. He was standing by the Oasis sign, and made shushing motions when he noticed them. They slowed a bit, trying to make their footsteps softer as they approached.

"Well? Where are the Akuma?" Lavi said quietly.

Alma gestured at the entrance and whispered, "In there. They're talking, though. Something about Tyki being gone."

"Say what?"

They crowded around the entrance, trying to peer around the corner.

The Oasis was just as Miranda remembered, from what she could see. Little fast food restaurants dotted the walls, spots of color in a sea of light blue. Metal tables and chairs were half hidden behind thick, round pillars. There was a staircase and elevator at the far end, and a ramp curving along the outside of the actual plaza. Water shimmered in its glass pool above. There was an Akuma visible in the middle of the floor, distorted sunlight wavering over its body. It was talking to another, which was hidden from their sight by a hedge shaped like a dinosaur and its enormous pot.

"But we lost a whole bunch of us!" said the Akuma, looking like a big, ugly robotic insect. "We can't do anything after that Fallen! Can't we regroup?"

"But that means letting the Innocence escape, lero!" came a shrill response from another they couldn't see.

"But it's already gone…" said a slower, deeper voice.

"It's still here, lero! That stupid little gold golem has it, lero!" screeched the second.

Timcanpy lashed its tail in irritation.

"But the golem could be anywhere!" said the insect.

"It's still here in the city! There's been no other movement in the limbo, lero!" cried the shrill one.

"But still…"

"Find it, lero!"

"You're not the Earl, you can't order us!" said another.

"Yeah, yeah, you can't even do anything!"

"We don't need your opinion, stupid little golem!" said yet another, and Miranda wondered just how many were lurking behind the hedge.

"This has nothing do do with me, lero!" squealed the one, flailing about- Miranda could see something pink flitting in and out of sight as it protested. "Do you _want_ the accommodators to find catch you, lero?"

"We can take the accommodators," hissed the voice that had spoken last. "There's only two or three more, and then we can hunt to our heart's delight!"

"Accommodators first! You'll just draw attention if you go around killing humans willy-nilly, lero!"

"That's no fun!"

"Besides, we don't have a chance against accommodators like these!" said the insect. "If we had a Noah around, then maybe…"

"Master Tyki's a lazy bum, he wouldn't help you at all, lero!"

"But with him around, Innocence doesn't stand a chance!"

"You're supposed to serve the Noah, lero, not have them do the work for you! They're not supposed to lead the way to a fight!"

"That seems to be how it goes anyway…"

"Yeah…"

"Listen to me, lero!"

"What do you think?" said Lavi, glancing back.

"Surprise attack," said Alma.

Link tugged a few spell tags out of his sleeve and said, "I'll trap the bug one. You all can take care of the others."

"Right. Miranda, Timothy, stick with Link," said Alma.

"R-right…" she said.

"Okay everybody, on the count of three," said Alma. Everyone pulled their weapons out and tensed. "Ready? Three… two… one… now!"

"Innocence, activate!" The accommodators roared it all together as the group charged into the plaza.

It was obvious they hadn't been expected. Link's spell caught the bug-shaped one immediately, and Lavi's hammer smashed one of the others right into the path of Kanda and Mugen. As that one met its end with a howl of agony, its six other companions realized what was going on.

"Wah! Watch it, lero!" shrieked a floating, pumpkin-topped pink umbrella, narrowly avoiding a kick from Lenalee. "How dare you- hey- stop! Lero's not a punching bag, lero lero!"

Miranda cowered next to Link and Timothy and watched as the others laid into the Akuma. Lenalee was busy with the umbrella, while Alma took on another on his own. Lavi and Kanda were menacing the rest. There was a thunk behind her, and Miranda whirled around to find Timothy sprawled out on the ground, Timcanpy flitting around his head. He came to quickly though, curling up and clutching at his sore head while he whined, "Ugh, I should've been faster on that one!"

Over with the others, they seemed determined to get it all over with as soon as possible, because Lavi swept his hammer to the side and shouted, "Level two, activate!" The odd symbols spiraled around him again. "Fire stamp! Devouring flame!" With one more swing of the hammer, the great fiery serpent was summoned. It hissed and coiled above him as he swung the hammer into the symbol for a second time. "Double Fire Stamp!"

And now that snake had a twin. They coiled and hissed, spitting ashes before lunging. The Akuma scattered for cover, and Lenalee and Alma had to do the same, unable to take the scorching heat. The snakes pursued them, curling around the perimeter of the plaza. The dinosaur bushes and decorative hedge by the ramp went up in flame. Link cringed away from the heat, sweat beading on his forehead and face set in a scowl as his spell papers grew singed at the edges. His Akuma began to struggle.

One of the snakes caught an Akuma and clamped its jaws around it. The creature squealed and thrashed before exploding.

Miranda looked around, trying to figure out how many were left, but something caught her eye and all rational thought vanished from her head. It was an orange jacket. A very familiar orange jacket, because no one else in Mater had such a bad sense of fashion. The owner's hair was white, mostly hidden by a green bandana, and he was chasing an Akuma up the ramp. The firelight danced over his face, his gray eyes, and Miranda's heart nearly stopped.

"Allen?" the name came out a whisper.

She could barely believe it. Allen. Allen. Alive! She sucked in a shuddering breath and ran. Link shouted something after her, but she didn't pay attention. She had to get to Allen. She ducked under a fire-snake and its suffocating heat almost made her flounder, but she forced herself to keep going, past the blazing bushes and up the ramp. Allen and the Akuma were pretty far ahead, and Miranda cursed herself for being so out of shape. She kept sprinting up, up, following the curve as another hissing snake passed by and another Akuma exploded below. Up, up, up… and she reached the top.

The glass pool with its little fountains sat in the middle, trickling its water down between its border and the gray floor. There were three large benches spaced along either side. Allen and the Akuma were somewhere by the second bench. Miranda stumbled a bit, squawked, and then cried, "Allen!"

He braked quickly and spun around, and Miranda nearly burst out in tears. It really was him- same face, same scar, same eyes. Even his startled expression made her want to cry.

"It is you!" she said, barely audible. "Thank god… Oh, thank god…"

But Allen wasn't the only one who'd heard her. The Akuma, which looked like an enormous playing card with protruding arms and swords, flipped about.

"Aha! An accommodator!" it cackled. "I'll take care of you right away!"

With a laugh it flew forward, faces grinning like the devil. Miranda gasped and stepped back, but it was no use. The Akuma was going much too fast. It was almost upon her when there was a shout, and silvery claws dug in, ripping down almost halfway down the body. The Akuma's eyes rolled, taking in the shredded top half, and then the person behind it.

"W-what? Why… How dare-"

It exploded before any other words could come out. Miranda covered her face until the pieces stopped clattering about, and looked up. Allen stood there, Innocence arm activated and right shoulder up in flames.

"M-Miranda?" he said uncertainly.

And Miranda launched herself into him, wrapping him up in the tightest hug she could muster. She heard his breath fly out in a loud _whoosh_, but she didn't much care. Hell, he deserved it.

"Didn't I say it before?" she cried, tears starting to creep down her cheeks. "Never, ever do that again! We all throught you died!"

There was a moment of hesitation, before he wrapped his arms around her too. He smiled against the top of her head and said softly, "It's okay, Miranda. I'm perfectly fine."

"Thank god," she sobbed, "thank god…"

Another explosion came from below, causing the water to slosh and quake oddly. The reddish glow of the snakes faded. It probably wouldn't be long before the others followed her. They'd be so excited when they saw Allen.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before there was noise on the ramp behind her.

"Hey, Miranda, what're you doing running away like that?" called Lavi.

Miranda turned to face him, hurriedly rubbing the tears from her face as Kanda and Lenalee jogged up behind him. All three froze at the top of the ramp, their faces showing various states of shock.

"A-Allen?"

"Allen? Is that really you?" said Lenalee, looking thunderstruck.

"Y-yeah," said Allen, his surprise turning into sheepishness, and he rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "I guess I worried you guys, huh?"

"No kidding!" said Lavi, relief evident in his voice and on his face, as if the sound of Allen's voice had chased off any doubts.

He and Lenalee made to walk forward, but Kanda stepped out quickly in front of them, and his speed made them falter. The Asian boy pointed Mugen at Allen, eyes narrowed nearly to slits.

"Get away from that thing, Miranda," he growled.

"Thing?" Miranda repeated, surprised.

"Yes. That," said Kanda, gesturing at Allen.

"B-but this is Allen!" she said.

"Are you blind, woman?" Kanda hissed back. "_His scar's on the wrong side_!"

Miranda looked around. Allen blinked right back at her, hand moving to his face as if to confirm what he couldn't see. Sure enough, just as Kanda said, the scar was on the right side of his face, not the left. And, come to think of it, when his arm had been activated, that arm had been the wrong one too.

"Hang on, is that true?" said Allen.

"It… it is on the wrong side…" Miranda mumbled. Why hadn't she noticed that before?

Allen looked confused. Even if he looked a little different, he was still Allen. He'd still saved her. This was a little weird, but she wasn't going to fault him for something he didn't even know about. Even now he looked like he was puzzling how that scar had migrated over his face.

Miranda was so busy studying him, she didn't notice the others approach. Kanda grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her away and behind him, pedaling backward to keep a distance while he kept Mugen threateningly before him. Miranda yelped at the careless treatment.

"Kanda, what…"

"You really are an idiot! Didn't I tell you to get away?"

"But it's Allen!" Miranda insisted.

"Did you not just hear…"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Allen cried, "Hang on! I know things look weird, but…."

"Weird? _Weird_? Your freaking face is freaking flopped!" Kanda shouted, and Allen recoiled in surprise.

"K-Kanda, stop it!" said Miranda, wrestling out of his grip. Her arm stung rather badly as a result, and she cradled it close, but she stood tall and glared at him as best she could. "I am sick of it!" she said shrilly. "You're always pushing everyone around and treating us like dirt! I'm not going to let you bully Allen anymore just because you're paranoid, you… you… you vainglorious!"

Kanda's face, at first twisted into a snarl, now smoothed out into confused blankness. From the corner of her eye, Miranda could see Lenalee's expression of surprise. Was it because she finally stood up to him or because of the word? She didn't really have time to ask or dwell on it.

Something between a pained squeak and a wheeze came from behind Kanda. Miranda didn't think all that much of it until Lenalee's face became horrified and she gasped, "Oh my god! Lavi!"

Lavi was hunched slightly, grip lax on the hammer in his right hand. His eye was wide, face stuck in surprise or fright as he stared down at the giant claws digging into his front. Allen was pressed up to his back, chin on Lavi's shoulder, one hand gripping an arm, the other invoked and sunk into the redhead's chest. His eyes were half-lidded, and there was an oddly self-satisfied smirk on his face. Blood was welling up under the claws, staining Lavi's clothes and dribbling down, down, down. It was almost like it had been when his Innocence had formed, but the blood now was different, too dark, too strange, too _wrong_….

"Let go of him!" shouted Kanda, making to attack, but Allen jerked Lavi backwards, prompting a shuddering gasp as claws dug deeper. The hammer fell out of his hand to clatter on the floor. Kanda stopped short and hissed.

"Allen, what are you doing?" Miranda screeched, and Allen laughed.

"Well, simple as _you_ are, your friends are harder to fool. I should've picked someone more symmetrical, but this form was too good to pass up…."

Form?

"What?" said Miranda. "What are you talking about?"

Allen tilted his face further into Lavi's neck and said, "Aw, you're real slow, aren't you? Haven't figured it out?"

"Akuma," Lavi hissed through gritted teeth.

"Yes," said Allen, positively leering. "My special ability is to copy the appearances and abilities of whatever I choose. When I came across this accommodator, I knew that I had to use his form at some point, it was too much fun not to! And I thought, maybe now that he's dead, I could use it to fool his accommodator friends. You fell for it spectacularly!" And here he cackled, looking directly at Miranda. "If you're so easily fooled, I wonder how well you really knew him, hm?"

Miranda felt almost like she'd been slapped in the face. Shame flooded through her and she wondered how she could've been so stupid. Kanda had been right. They were all right. And her stupidity had gotten Lavi caught and hurt. How stupid. How useless. How worthless.

Lavi made an odd gurgling sound.

"I didn't realize you were accommodators too, though," said Allen- no, the _Akuma_. "If I did, I would've picked you off back then."

"You're the one from the parking garage, aren't you? The clown," Lavi said hoarsely.

"That's right," the Akuma purred.

"Great. So how long are you going to just sit here?" said Lavi.

"You're bleeding to death as it is, and you make a wonderful shield against your little friends," said the Akuma. It tilted its head to the side to regard him further and frowned a little, muttering, "Though it is boring to just let it happen like this."

"So be a little more creative," said Lavi, wearing a grin that was really more of a grimace.

What on earth was he doing, egging the Akuma on? Did he want to die?

"Come on, you've got that ability. I bet you want to show it off, right?" he continued.

The Akuma smirked.

"Oh, that would be fun. Do me a favor and die _spectacularly_!"

At the last word, the Akuma ripped its claws out, raking his side and sending a spurt of blood into the air. It raised its hand high and swung down, aiming at his head, but with a choked noise, he threw himself to the side, just in time as Lenalee shot forward. She swung her leg in an arc, boots blazing angrily. The Akuma saw her at the last second and veered off course, just enough for her to miss. Lavi managed his escape though. Lenalee planted her hands on the ground and twisted her hips sharply, swinging her legs about. They spun like a top, the rest of her following the movement, hair fanning out amidst the blaze. The Akuma stumbled back still further, holding up the invoked arm to defend itself. The boots clanked off of it, making shallow gouges in the process. Lenalee flipped herself back to her feet, taking a wide stance over Lavi. The redhead shuddered and stopped his crawling. Kanda ran up next to Lenalee, glancing down.

"You okay down there, rabbit?"

"Peachy," Lavi mumbled back, voice rather faint. "It got my lung. Maybe other stuff. Don't make me move."

"Shit," said Kanda.

"Don't think that'll save you," said the Akuma. "You'll bleed out quick, and your friends will follow!"

It brought its claws up to its forehead and drew them sharply down. Its body split on that line, and fell away like a cicada shell. From the division the Akuma rose. It had kept the top half of Allen's form, but from the hips down, it was the jester Akuma from the parking garage, the one Allen had fought. With those legs it towered at least two feet above them. It licked some of the blood on its claw, and then its teeth bared in a wicked grin. Its eyes bulged, the iris shrinking to nothing, pupil stretched out like a goat's. With a cackle it hopped forward, spinning a pirouette, and when its arm whipped back around it was no longer Allen's claw- it was made of the same material, had the same cross marking, but had formed into a thick trident instead. Lenalee bent over backwards in the blink of an eye, the trident whistling over her. Kanda didn't have the same reaction time, nor the flexibility, and was caught in the side. He had managed to hold up Mugan against the blow, but the force still sent him tumbling head over heels for several feet.

"How do you like that, eh?" the Akuma cackled, spinning again and aiming its trident down at Lenalee's stomach.

Miranda began to hurry forward, a shout on her tongue and horror on her face, but Lenalee wasn't about to let that happen. Her legs kicked up and she shouted, "Misty Wind!"

The odd tornadoes from earlier roared into existence, pushing the Akuma away. The force propelled her forward too, so instead of falling on top of Lavi, she managed to execute a front flip and land perfectly next to his head. These tornadoes hadn't been as strong as the last, so the Akuma hadn't skidded very far, and it recovered fast. It stuck out its tongue, as if to mock them.

"Is that how strong you are? The others were stupid to fear you!"

"Oh, screw you!" hissed Kanda, pushing himself back to his feet. He wavered a moment, but quickly picked up speed, whipping Mugen ahead of him. "Summon misfortune! Netherworld Creature Ichigen!"

The eel-insects burst into existence with a shriek, which only grew louder as they sighted the Akuma. The Akuma's smirk grew darker and it braced itself, arm at the ready. Miranda jumped as Kanda barked at her, "Get the others! Now!"

One more look at Lavi sent her running back toward the ramp. The blood was stuck in her mind, pooling bigger and bigger, and she was so distracted she nearly tripped even though there were no stairs. She sprinted halfway down the ramp before deciding it was close enough and threw herself at the railing.

"Alma!" she shouted. "Alma! Link!"

The last of their group was exactly where they left them. Link still had the insect-Akuma pinned down, and Alma, Timothy and Timcanpy were hovering near it. They all looked up at her voice, though.

"Miranda? What's wrong?" said Alma.

"It's Lavi! Quick, he's hurt! There's blood, it's everywhere! Oh god, come quick I don't know what to do!" she sobbed.

Alma blinked once in surprise, but his brow furrowed. In a flurry of colors, he rose up into the air and in a second, alighted on the rail beside her.

"How bad?" he asked.

"The Akuma said he'd bleed to death," Miranda whispered.

Alma grit his teeth and grabbed her arm. With a muttered, "Hang on," he took off. Miranda clung to the ridges on his shoulder and squeaked as her feet left the ground. Alma couldn't simply fly up due to the glass pool, and had to follow the path of the ramp. At the very top their feet brushed ground, and Miranda regained herself just in time to look up at the fight.

She'd barely been gone at all, but the Akuma had reverted back to the form that looked entirely Allen. Maybe it had thought they would be less likely to attack the image of their comrade or something. And maybe it had worked on Lenalee, but obviously it hadn't taken Kanda into account. Seeing as how Kanda was burying Mugen in its gut. The sword sank in up to the hilt, and he was practically nose-to-nose with the Akuma. And Miranda knew it was an Akuma, but it still looked so much like Allen, and the shock and pain on its face was so real, Miranda couldn't help but feel like she'd been punched in the stomach. Kanda yanked his sword out and jumped back, just before the Akuma exploded. There was a loud clack as Lenalee kicked a particularly large chunk of flying debris away from Lavi. The noise caught Alma's attention- he swore under his breath and dragged Miranda with him toward them. They knelt down next to the redhead.

"Alma!" said Lenalee, dropping to her knees on the other side. "Do you know anything about medicine or… or… anything?"

"What kind of injury is it?" said Alma.

"The Akuma got him with that claw. It looks really bad! I think Lavi said it popped his lung or something," said Lenalee, looking lost.

"The lung?" Alma repeated.

He reached out and rolled Lavi over onto his back. Miranda got one good look at his scrunched face and the horribly stained shirt and jacket, and couldn't look any more. She quickly turned her head and stared at one of his knees instead. It was shaking. His entire body was trembling.

"Jesus Christ," said Kanda. She could see his legs going past. There was a sound, like he'd gotten to the ground by Lenalee. "Lavi, are you…."

"Don't you dare freaking ask if I'm okay," Lavi rasped.

"Oh god damn it. What are we supposed to do now?" said Kanda.

"Ambulance?" said Lenalee.

"Look at all that blood! He'll be dead before one even gets here!" said Kanda.

"Oh that's real cheerful," said Lavi, sounding even weaker than before.

"Then what about Atuuda? Isn't it supposed to heal people?" said Lenalee, looking desperate now.

"Only when it draws on its master's power, and Link's not it's master, so that won't work," said Alma.

"Screw that stupid golem..."

"Lavi, what blood type are you?" said Alma.

"B-blood type?" he muttered. "Ah… I dunno…."

"Do any of you know his blood type?" said Alma, glancing around at the others.

Lenalee and Miranda shook their heads quickly, while Kanda snapped, "Why the hell would we know that?"

"In case he needs a blood transfusion or something, obviously!" said Alma. "Aw, shit… okay, Lavi, I'm going to try something."

"Trying's better than nothin'…"

Alma's arm moved, and Miranda's eyes drifted back to follow it. He held his hand out over the injury, and with his nails, he dug into his wrist. It wasn't too long before his own blood came out. His face twisted in pain and concentration as he dug a little deeper and held the hurt wrist lower. His blood dripped down, aimed right down into Lavi's wounds, and on contact, Lavi spasmed. His back arched right off the ground, his eye went wide, and he let out an odd gasp. When he fell back to the ground the injury was smoking, some sort of design curling itself around it. Alma quickly drew his hands back.

"That's all I can risk," he said.

"The hell was that?" said Kanda.

"I have regeneration abilities in my blood," Alma explained, and Miranda was stunned to see the self-inflicted injury was healing over right before their eyes. In a matter of seconds it looked as if he'd never been hurt at all. "Of course, I don't know how other blood types would react to it, and it's seriously screwed up in the first place, so it could actually damage even the same blood type… I never wanted to risk it, but in this situation…."

"Well I think it did _something_," said Lavi, still looking a bit bamboozled.

"I can stem the rest of the blood flow," said a voice right behind Miranda, and she nearly had a heart attack. When had Link gotten there?

"You can do that?" said Alma.

"I'm not particularly skilled with it, so it won't be for long," said Link. "We'll have to get him to a hospital as soon as possible."

"We can do that," said Kanda.

"How far is it?" said Alma.

"Not far, and nobody's going to be in the way. We can get him there pretty quick," said Kanda.

Lenalee bit her lip at that response, but didn't say anything. With one more quick look at their faces, Link pulled out some more spell papers and put them over the injury. He muttered a few nonsense words, and the papers seemed to vacuum themselves to the skin, though no blood stained them.

"Right. We need to move now," said Link.

"Okay, let's go!" said Alma, moving forward, and he and Kanda lifted him off the ground. Immediately, Lavi thrashed.

"_No_!" he howled.

"What's wrong?" cried Lenalee, crowding in closer.

Lavi groped at the air, spitting blood and eyes nearly rolling in effort as he hissed, "Innocence! The Innocence!"

Miranda looked down to see Lavi's hammer still lying some feet away, now small enough to be carried in one hand. She dove for it, and hurried back over to Lavi.

"Here, this is what you mean, right?" she said.

Lavi clutched it close to him and stopped struggling, though he didn't say anything. After a moment they decided that must've been it, and proceeded to carry him away.

It was a good thing that no one was out driving today, after all. Because in a matter of minutes Kanda was tearing down the streets like they were the highway. The car screeched and squealed as it whipped around corners, nearly tipping over in the process on some attempts and scaring Miranda half to death. She had to wonder if Kanda was some sort of NASCAR driver in another life or something, because he kept in expert control of the car even with it at top speed. Miranda was hunkered down in the back seat, Lavi's legs on her lap. Lenalee sat beside her, in the middle, and Link was at the far side, eyes closed and mouth forming a tight line. Lavi was laying across them, teeth gritted and eye closed, but he was still awake. He'd make odd noises at particularly sharp turns, and they all had to grab onto him so he wouldn't roll off and hurt himself more. On the plus side there hadn't been any blood escaping the 'bandages' Link had applied, but maybe that was bad, too? Was the blood all welling up under there and going into his other lung or something? It scared Miranda, but there was nothing she could do, so she just focused on her breathing and stared determinedly at the little crop of blue hair she could glimpse in the front seat. Timothy was sitting there (they'd been afraid to put Lavi there- what if the seatbelt irritated the injury?), and he kept nearly looking back, but forcing himself to look forward again. The poor kid had seen enough blood at this point to last a lifetime. Miranda hoped it wasn't going to be too scarring.

"How much longer?" Lenalee whispered, eyes darting between Link and Lavi.

"Almost there," said Kanda.

"Good. I don't think Link's taking it too well."

And looking closer at Link's face, Miranda noticed the tenseness, the flared nostrils, the sweat on his face. He was starting to shake, too.

"Was this not part of your training?" she asked quietly.

"I was taught to fight. Healing was a bit of an aforethought," said Link.

Well damn.

It was at this point that they reached the hospital. They hadn't actually run into anyone on the road (aside from the police cars, which hadn't followed them despite their speed, which was actually very strange, all things considered), and the parking lot here was completely empty. Not that Kanda bothered with parking. He zoomed right up into the loop by the front door and skidded to a loud stop. He kicked his door open without even bothering to switch to park. While Timothy yelped and dove for the stick shift, Kanda tugged the back door open.

"Come on, let's get him out!" he barked.

Link moved stiffly, but between him, Miranda, and Lenalee, they managed to lift Lavi out enough that Kanda could pick him up. He held the redhead bridal style, looking utterly ridiculous as he dashed toward the front door.

"Slow down!" Link hissed, hopping out and rushing after them. "I need to be close to keep the spell going!"

"Help!" cried Timothy, as the car began to roll backwards down the incline. Lenalee lunged forward, just as Alma swooped down out of the sky. He braced himself against the back of the car, while Lenalee fumbled with the stick shift. Once it was safely in park, they stumbled out.

"He's already inside?" said Alma.

"Yeah, Kanda carried him in," said Lenalee.

"He's gonna be okay now, right?" said Timothy.

"Hopefully," said Alma.

He deactivated his Innocence and ran up the stairs. The others followed, Miranda tagging along at the back as the automatic doors slid open. Inside, she could see that Kanda and Link were by the receptionist's desk. The woman there was on the telephone, talking frantically to someone on the other end. Her voice got even more urgent when Link's shoulders sagged, and his head bowed. Miranda could hear him sigh even from the door, and came to the conclusion he'd lost control of the spell.

"Oh for god's sake, woman! He's bleeding to death here!" said Kanda.

"I can see that!" she snapped back.

From the doorway to their right, nearly six hospital workers ran out, bringing a gurney between them. They took Lavi out of Kanda's grip and put him on said gurney before rushing back the way they came. Kanda made to follow, but the receptionist said, "Hang on!"

"What?" said Kanda.

"Only family is allowed further at this point. You're going to have to stay in the lobby," she said.

Kanda looked ready to argue something like 'how do you know we're not family,' but seemed to think better of it. Good thing, because he and Lavi looked nothing alike. Not that he and Daisya had anyway, but oh…. bad territory. Miranda had to stop thinking about that.

With nothing else to do, Kanda spun on his heel and stormed over to the chairs on the side of the room. With a few glances at the receptionist, the rest of them drifted after him. Once they sat down, silence overtook them. Link was breathing hard, but the rest were stuck in their own thoughts.

Was Lavi going to be okay? How bad was that injury after all? Had it gotten worse during transport? Would the doctors be able to fix an Akuma-inflicted injury? Could the Akuma virus be transmitted even without the blood bullet? Miranda fretted, twisting her hands in her lap as fear chased itself around her head. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to consider the idea that another one of their comrades might die, especially due to her stupidity. If she'd just accepted that Allen was dead and gone, she wouldn't have gotten Lavi in trouble. He would've been okay right now. If he died, she'd never be able to forgive herself. Never. Never.

She leaned over and closed her eyes, muttering into her hands.

"He's dead. He's dead. Allen's dead. He's not coming back."

It hurt, but she had to realize it. She couldn't let this happen again.

"Miranda? You okay?" said Lenalee.

Miranda jumped.

"I-I don't think I'm the one we have to be worried about," she mumbled.

She stared down at her hands, and was a little surprised when Lenalee's came to rest on hers. The girl gave her a small smile and said, "It's going to be okay." Her voice wasn't overflowing with confidence or anything, but it was strong, and Miranda felt reassured anyway.

It was nearly ten minutes later that the lobby doors opened again. Two police officers and a man in a trench coat walked in. The trench coat man was in the lead, and as soon as he spotted the group, he made a beeline for them.

"Inspector Galmar?" Timothy said, voice somewhere between awe and apprehension. Miranda barely had time to look over at him before he dived behind Alma's chair, Timcanpy right behind him. Was this Inspector really so scary?

"You're the ones who came in with Lavi Bookman, right?" said the trench coat man, once he was level with them.

"That's right," said Kanda, sounding reproachful.

"I'm Inspector Galmar, with the Mater Police Department. I'm here to check what happened," said the man. "And you are…?"

"Yu Kanda," Kanda said sulkily.

"Howard Link," came a quiet reply from his other side, and Miranda was glad to hear Link's breathing had returned to normal.

"I'm Lenalee Lee," said Lenalee.

"Oh! Um… Miranda Lotto," said Miranda, when she noticed the man looking at her.

There was silence as the man turned to Alma. Alma looked a little surprised, and shuffled his feet slightly before saying, "I'm Alma. Alma… Chan."

"Can I see your identification?" said the inspector.

Everyone reluctantly went digging through their pockets. Miranda was relieved to find that she'd stuck her wallet into the inside pocket of her coat, and fished out her driver's license. She held it out, and the inspector gathered them all up, raising an eyebrow when Alma failed to produce anything. He'd made a big show of patting himself down and looking in his pockets, but had nothing to show for it.

"Identification?"

"I think I must've forgotten it at home, sorry," said Alma, shrugging.

Inspector Galmar frowned, looking over Alma's disheveled state once more, but chose not to comment and started looking through the various cards as he asked, "What's your relation to Lavi Bookman?"

"He's a fellow student at Rose Cross," said Link. "Kanda and I share classes with him."

"My brother helps out at Rose Cross, in the science department. Kanda, Lavi and I were helping with one of his projects," said Lenalee.

"Is that project the reason he was hurt?" said Galmar, and Lenalee looked horrified.

"No, of course not! My brother may be a little crazy, but none of his projects actually hurt anyone!"

The inspector nodded, and his eyes flicked to Miranda. All the thoughts flew out of her mind, and she simply gaped up at him. How was she supposed to explain her relation? Was she supposed to lie like Lenalee was doing?

"She's friends with one of my friends. She wasn't able to contact him at all today, so she stuck with me, hoping I might know where he was," said Lenalee, and Miranda was relieved for the rescue.

"And you?"

"Friend of that same friend," said Alma, smiling weakly.

"Really now?" said the inspector.

"Alma's cool, you don't have to be all suspicious of him," Timothy mumbled, peeking out from behind the chair.

Galmar froze for exactly two seconds before he swooped down on the boy.

"Timothy Hearst, where the hell have you been? I got called in to your house this morning, your parents dead, and you were nowhere to be found! What the hell happened? Where did you go?" he demanded, with the kind of feverish, angry look that Miranda had seen on her late uncle's face before- the kind that meant he had been worried to death but was loathe to show it.

"I was with these guys," said Timothy, gesturing at the group, and Galmar now looked at them all with more suspicion.

"And what were you all doing outside? Didn't you listen to the reports? You all should've stayed home!"

"Yeah, but Allen…"

"Whoever he is, he might've been among those found this morning!" said Galmar.

"But we thought Allen might know what was going on," said Miranda. "He… he's much smarter than I am, anyway. And he sensed things happening a lot faster than I did…."

She bowed her head again, tears smarting at her eyes. After a moment Galmar sighed. There was a light scraping sound as he dragged another chair over and plunked himself into it. Miranda studied his shoes for a while before gaining the courage to look up again.

"Can you tell me what, exactly, happened, to Mr. Bookman?" said the inspector.

"He got attacked," said Kanda.

"How? And where?" said Galmar.

Kanda opened his mouth, then shut it, his face coloring slightly. The true story really would sound unbelievable, wouldn't it?

"We were at Oasis," said Lenalee.

"Oasis?" Galmar repeated.

"Yeah. For some reason we came to the conclusion that Allen might be there, if he was alive," she said.

"It was Lavi's idea," Kanda said grumpily, going along with the story. "Bastard loves malls. Hell if I know why."

"Oasis, then… And what happened?"

"I told you, he was attacked," said Kanda.

"But who did it?" said Galmar.

They all went silent. They glanced at each other, each hoping that one of them might come up with something believable. It was obvious that Galmar saw this- it showed in his face.

"Well?"

They couldn't just tell him about Akuma, could they? But Miranda had no idea what else to say. She looked at Alma for help, and was relieved when he spoke up.

"We split up to look for Allen, since the Oasis and mall are pretty big," he said. "Lavi went up to the second floor on his own. We heard a bunch of noise and ran up there, and he was there on the ground, bleeding out."

"So you didn't see the culprit," said Galmar, disbelief coloring his voice.

"That's right," said Alma.

They stared at each other for a while, Galmar's face growing steadily darker. After nearly a minute, he let out another, more irritated, sigh and said, "Listen. We have found a good third of the city's population either dead in their beds or completely missing. You are the only ones who were out on the streets. Mr. Bookman is the only one who's been brought, alive, to the hospital at all today. I want to know why, how, and who is doing this."

"And you think we're behind this?" Kanda hissed.

"You're the only ones moving, and your friend's state of dress is certainly unusual," the inspector replied curtly.

"We hoped Allen would know," Miranda murmured.

"Who is this Allen, anyway? Why would he know?" said Galmar.

"Allen was involved in a lot of things, had a lot of contacts. He was really good at getting information when he wanted it," said Alma.

"And what makes you think he's still alive, if you can't contact him at all?" said Galmar.

"In all likelihood, he's dead like the rest of those people. I guess we're just clinging to some stupid hope," Alma said somberly.

Galmar just looked at him.

Over the next hour, Galmar continued to question them, as if he knew their story was a lie. He was probably determined to get to the bottom of this, and Miranda couldn't blame him. But it wasn't very easy to sympathize when she was the one being interrogated. Then it was just scary and depressing. After a good while he let them be, walking off toward the reception desk while one of his fellow policemen took his place. This particular man seemed to find Kanda the most suspicious, so by the time Galmar came back and replaced him, Kanda was nearly frothing at the mouth in rage at the accusations. And then it kept going, on and on and on until, at nearly six o' clock when Miranda's stomach was growling, another man rushed in.

He was recognizable immediately.

"LENALEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he screeched, flailing about like a rag doll as he squeezed in, even before the doors were halfway open. "Lenalee! Are you okay? Are you safe? I've been worried sick!"

Miranda had never seen Komui, but she recognized the voice even before Lenalee gasped, "Brother?"

She hadn't been very loud, but the moment the word left her lips, Komui's head swiveled around and he raced over to throw his arms around her and sob into her shoulder.

"My sweet baby sister! I've been so worried! I saw the news and you didn't answer your phone!"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I must've left my phone at home! But I left you a note on the fridge, I thought you'd read it!" she said, looking horribly guilty and patting him gently. He just continued to snivel and cry dramatically.

Komui was actually rather tall, and the glimpse of his face Miranda had gotten revealed that he was at least vaguely good looking (or he would've been, if that face hadn't been contorted and covered in snot and tears), with stylish glasses. Like his sister he had dark hair that framed his face, though in the back it only went down to his shoulders, almost flipping upwards at the bottom. Miranda didn't know how to react to his presence, so simply stared.

"Excuse me," said Galmar, disgruntled, "but who are you?"

Komui stiffened at the tone and slowly let go of Lenalee, turning around to look at the inspector. He was wearing a falsely innocent look.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"I'm Komui Lee. Lenalee here is my darling little sister, so when you called about her being in the hospital, I had to come," he said, sounding completely professional and not at all like the crybaby he'd been a few seconds ago. Even Galmar seemed unsettled by the change.

"Ah… well, do you know anything in relation to Lavi Bookman and his accident?" said Galmar.

"No, I'm afraid not. I once helped in his science course, though. Met Kanda at the same time. Hello, Kanda!" he said brightly, waving down at the other. Kanda just looked at him like he had no idea who the guy was. "As for today, I hadn't seen him or heard about him at all until now."

"I understand he was helping you with a project? Could that in any way be linked to his injury?" said Galmar.

"A project?" Komui said blankly.

Miranda almost missed it, but she caught the movement as Lenalee tapped her brother's ankle with the toe of her shoe. It must've been some sort of silent language between them, for Komui went on without skipping a beat.

"Oh, yes, the Komlin series! You see, I work in robotics, and Lavi was interested in seeing another use of science, since his chemistry course was nothing short of a fiasco. He's been helping me with a little of the mechanics, test runs, troubleshooting, a little construction here and there. But that couldn't be why he was hurt. I was actually working on the newest Komlin until I got your call," said Komui.

"Is it possible that someone might have been trying to get some sort of secrets out of him, something about the robots?" said Galmar.

"Ah, well, unfortunately, the scientific community has declared the Komlin series a notorious failure. There's nothing anyone would want to steal," said Komui.

Galmar's mouth twisted, and he glared at Kanda as if the boy was the reason for all his troubles. Kanda had been the most stubborn and difficult throughout the process, and even now returned the glare with full venom. One of the other policemen tapped Galmar on the shoulder and muttered something. Galmar grumbled something about being back in a minute and they all walked away again. Once he was a good enough distance away, Komui took his vacated seat.

"So, what exactly is going on?" he asked. "And don't lie to me, none of you are helping with Komlin."

They all stiffened again. Miranda wondered if they should really trust him or not. He was Lenalee's brother, but still…

"Lavi was attacked. There was a kind of monster that took our friend's shape, and it tried to kill him," said Lenalee.

Ah. Well, there wasn't even a hesitation with her.

"A monster?" said Komui, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I think Allen said they were kind of robots, too… Alma…?" said Lenalee.

Alma blinked owlishly, but said, "Yeah. But not exactly… I suppose you'd call them magical robots?"

"Magic," Komui said flatly.

"Innocence, activate," said Lenalee.

The green fire that rushed up her legs was much more subdued this time, so it didn't alert the policemen. Komui stared down at the Innocence boots in shock, and then up at her face again.

"It's less magic and more magical item," Lenalee said hurriedly. "It's the only thing that can really destroy the monsters that are attacking Mater. We've been fighting them for several days now…"

"Several days?" said Komui, sounding strained. "And you didn't tell me?"

"You'd just forget the next day, anyway!" said Lenalee.

"But, but, but…."

"I've tried to tell you before, but you did forget! It's been today for about a week!"

"A week?" he squealed.

Galmar turned to look at them, and Timothy waved cheerily. Once he looked away again, Komui bowed his head.

"I know you wouldn't leave me out of the loop unless it was really important," he said quietly.

"It is, but I don't want you out of the loop. That's just how it happened."

"You don't have to do this on your own."

"That's why Lavi and the others are with me," said Lenalee.

Komui looked over them, suspiciously at the boys, and a little more accepting with Miranda. Thank god. She didn't think she could deal with any more negativity.

"You're helping Lenalee?" he said.

"Yes," said Alma. "We're all working together on this."

After a moment's hesitation, Komui's face became determined.

"Then I'll help you."

Inspector Galmar came back, flanked by the other officers, and Komui hopped out of the chair like he'd been scalded. Galmar sat down again, while Komui hovered over by Lenalee.

"Let's try this again," said Galmar. "What happened to Lavi Bookman?"

Komui grinned widely, and started spouting nonsense that, for the life of her, Miranda couldn't understand. The technical babble had them all looking at him like he was insane, though Timcanpy seemed amused. Despite its lack of voice, it appeared to be laughing.

* * *

Krory really should've thought about this ages ago. No average human could find Cross, but throw in someone who wasn't average at all, and one might have better luck! So here he was, on the bottommost floor of headquarters, standing on a little outcrop over what looked like an abyss.

The creature before him glowed with an nearly ethereal light. It was almost snakelike, a long, thin form with a plated stomach. Its sides and back were covered in odd tendrils, some even covering the upper part of its humanlike face. A set of thick lips was set in that face, under a nose that was really the size of Krory's own head. The creature was rising up out of the darkness like some beast from the deep, and its appearance was easily intimidating, but Krory knew better, even when lips parted and a set of sharp canines were exposed.

"Good afternoon, Arystar," came a slow, deep, woman's voice. It reverberated around the area, echoing away into empty space.

"Hello, Hevlaska. It's been a while," said Krory.

"Indeed. Is there a problem with your Innocence?" the creature, Hevlaska, asked.

"Ah, no, I'm perfectly fine. I was actually wondering if you knew where the general went," said Krory.

"General Cross?" Hevlaska said, sounding vaguely surprised. "No, I'm afraid he doesn't tell me where he plans on going. I am blind when it comes to that man."

"So you can't even trace his Innocence?" said Krory, heart sinking.

"I felt a presence in the west, so I believe he left through a door," said Hevlaska.

Oh, typical Cross. Skipping town to escape any annoyances.

"Oh…" said Krory.

"I apologize," said Hevlaska.

"It's no problem! I shouldn't have expected you to know, since Cross is so unpredictable…"

"But you are searching for him?"

"Yes, I'm supposed to pass some information along to him."

"Then perhaps you could tell him something from me as well."

Something from Hevlaska? That was odd. Hevlaska couldn't leave her place here in 'the pit,' as some of the other rebels had dubbed it, and so any information she had was either from other people (old news) or things she'd felt from Innocence itself.

"What is it?" said Krory.

"I have continued to monitor the Innocence beyond the limbo," said Hevlaska, "and I have felt a disturbance. A member of the Vanguard has been attacked."

"V-Vanguard?" Krory stuttered, amazed. "The Vanguard has emerged?"

"It has," said Hevlaska. "Even now its members are being gathered. But one of its core members has been gravely injured."

That was a little odd sounding - the Vanguard in and of itself was supposed to be the core members of Innocence - but Krory rolled with it anyway.

"W-will they be okay?"

"It remains to be seen. But I believe so."

"A-all right. I'll be sure to tell him!"

"Events are accelerating. It would be best to locate the general as soon as possible, before it is too late," said Hevlaska.

Krory took that as a polite 'get out,' and hastily retreated.

"Of course! I'll find him! I don't know how, but I'll make sure to find him!"

"Good luck!" Hevlaska called after him.

Soon his hurried footsteps faded from hearing range. Hevlaska turned her head upwards and listened to the silence for a while.

"We have waited long enough. Too long, perhaps," she murmured. "Marian… you must find Allen. Our chance is slipping away. I feel it closing in… the darkness…."

And far away, a red-haired man breathed out smoke.

"I hear you, Hev," he said quietly. "I hear you…"

* * *

Finally managed to finish this chapter! To my 50th review (thank you so much!), I am so sorry. You asked for Miranda/Allen romance. I think this is kind of the opposite of what you were hoping for. But I've been planning this part practically since chapter 3!

And I'd like to apologize for what was probably some horribly inaccurate story at the end. I've never had any experience with bad injuries, rushing people to the hospital, or getting interrogated by police. But the people I asked about it gave me some fuzzy information and I went with it!

In other news, I plan to start looking for a beta reader soon. I have plans for the next few chapters, but after that it gets a bit harder to pin the story down, and I want to make sure there aren't any plotholes or anything.

Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, and happy new year!


	13. Lucky Lady Lena

Gold.

As far as Miranda could see it was gold, a shimmering sea of lustrous yellow that swayed in the gusting wind. The sun was bright, bathing the entire area to the point it was hard to see, like a spotlight pointed right into the eyes. There was nothing beyond the white glare and swaying gold and dust motes, and for a while she convinced herself of that, but then she heard a sound.

Muffled laughter came from behind her, and golden wings flapped past her head, vanishing into the light. The giggling grew louder, and a child ran into view. She saw reddish brown hair and gray eyes matched by a patchwork coat. The child looked over at her, a smile lighting his face, before running again, following the wings.

And even though Miranda was alone again, the echo of his voice lingered, and the gold continued to sway. She felt warm. Safe. Reassured. And for the life of her she couldn't understand why.

* * *

Miranda woke up rather suddenly. She didn't quite know why, but one minute she was asleep, the next, wide awake. She stared aimlessly at the alarm clock for a long while, the numbers 7:45 burning into her eyes, but not registering until something moved near her knee. She jumped and looked down quickly, but it was only Timcanpy. The golem was upside down, legs sticking up in the air and wiggling feebly. Its tail swept across the bed, knocking into her leg once more.

Maybe it was a result of the dream, or maybe it was just the golem's ridiculous position, but Miranda smiled.

"What are you doing?" she said, amused, and Timcanpy's paws flailed faster. "Oh, don't give me that! I know you can fix yourself just fine."

Timcanpy beat its tail on the mattress, as if to say _No, I certainly can not_, and she laughed.

"All right, then. But next time you're on your own."

She took hold of one of Timcanpy's wings and flipped the thing over. The golem wobbled a bit before steadying itself, and showed its teeth in a grin. Why it seemed to be so playful she had no idea, and she didn't much feel like guessing. She yawned and stretched instead. Once the kinks were out of her back, she swung her legs over the mattress and stood up. She got dressed, ignoring the golem (it didn't have eyes, after all), and then headed for the door. She passed by the sofa and glanced down on the way. There was no Allen there, not that she was expecting it. It didn't bother her, either, which was vaguely surprising. She ended up blaming that on the dream too. She got herself a bowl of cereal, and ate it in silence, since she had nothing else to do and she really had to stop depending on other people for breakfast.

Once she was done, and the dishes put in the sink, she found herself with nothing to do. She was feeling a little listless in the first place, but she always felt better when she was doing something. With nothing else coming to mind, she gravitated over to the couch, intent on finding a good, mind-numbing show until the others showed up. She pushed the comforter aside, picked up the remote, and flipped on the TV.

She wished she hadn't.

"-a crisis!" the reporter, Sandra Sardini, was saying. While she had looked excited the other day with Daisya, she now looked terrified, and was in a completely different location. "For those just tuning in, disaster has struck Mater. Ever since the early hours of the morning, people have been calling in non-stop with stories about finding their families and friends dead inside their homes."

The image changed to the front door of a house, with a pair of EMTs carrying out a gurney. The body on top was covered in a sheet.

"The number of deaths are unconfirmed, but the tally is still climbing. Our sources say that all the inspected victims appear to be in perfect condition, with no injuries or obvious signs of struggle."

Next came the image of what looked like a doctor, hair uncombed, and looking completely baffled and devastated.

"It's like they just died in their sleep!" he said, incredulously. "There's no link between them, and it's so widespread…"

It flicked back to Sandra, who continued, "With no other alternatives at this point, some experts believe that this was caused by some sort of disease or contamination, and as such we warn everyone to stay in their homes until further notice. The transportation system has been shut down. Authorities are calling for help from neighboring cities. In related news, in addition to the death toll, a large number of people have simply disappeared. With seemingly no reason or connection-"

Miranda flipped off the TV. The silence rang in her ears as she stared down at her feet. She'd forgotten what had happened. She had forgotten that other people had been killed and hurt. How was she supposed to face the world outside, when she knew and hadn't done anything to stop this destruction?

A sob escaped her mouth, and she clapped a hand over it. Timcanpy flapped over and perched on her knee. It tilted itself to the side, as if in question.

"How do we fix this?" she asked it, voice shaking. "We can't… there's nothing we can… it's never going to…"

Timcanpy flicked its tail, and rose up in the air. It hovered right in front of her face, bared its teeth, and _snarled_. Miranda drew back in fright.

"T-T-Timcanpy, what are you…"

The golem snarled still louder, opening its jaws and spitting little flecks of rainbow light from its mouth. Magic? Was that magic? Was it going to break Miranda like it did with the doors? Terrified, she squeaked, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you angry, I'm just a little scared, and-" A hiss, "_Oh god I'm sorry!_ I don't what what I did, but-" Hiss spit snarl, "I'll stop, I'll stop, okay? I'll just do my best!"

Timcanpy's mouth closed. The weird magic sparks vanished, and it just flapped innocently in front of her. It took a while for what she'd said to actually sink in, and when it did, Miranda slowly began to relax.

"Yes… I'll do my best…" she muttered. "It's not much… but it's still something, isn't it?"

Timcanpy made no noise, but it radiated approval. The clock chimed eight o' clock.

* * *

Eyes stared at each other. Two black against one green. It wasn't the challenging kind of look, more of a slightly awkward, slightly alarmed type of one. And that was exactly what Kanda was feeling like, because he wasn't exactly expecting Lavi to turn up in the room again. He had anyway, and the redhead didn't look too much the worse for wear, which was, again, not what he was expecting.

"…Good morning," Lavi mumbled after a while, sounding confused, but normal.

"…Hi," said Kanda, unable to think of a better reply. "Uh… you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," said Lavi, furrowing his brow but still looking pretty blindsided. "I feel normal. Like it never happened. But I know it did, and that's what makes it so weird…."

"What happened when you hit midnight?" said Kanda.

"Dunno. They sent me to sleep for the surgery," said Lavi, shrugging.

"But the surgery was done?"

"I don't know. I think so, they had a long time. But does it really matter?" Lavi held a hand in front of his face, watching in fascination as it curled into a fist and relaxed again. "This rewind… it's fixing all the damage. All the other days' worth, too. All my little bumps and scratches and burns are gone, like they never existed."

"Don't depend on it," said Kanda, eyes narrowing.

Lavi lowered his hand to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that sounds too good to be true," Kanda said bluntly. He'd been bothered by it for a while. His own few injuries had repaired themselves in the rewind, but his instinct was telling him that they weren't gone. Not by a long shot. There was something weird about this healing, like it was going to break or something. "Besides, the dead can't be revived by it. That status stays. Maybe if you take enough damage, you'll die anyway."

"So you're saying if I take one more hit to the chest I'm a goner? Cheerful," said Lavi.

"I'm not saying anything, I don't know shit," said Kanda. "But you have to admit, it's too convenient."

Lavi didn't reply, but Kanda could see it in that eye, Lavi understood, and he was suspicious too.

"Are you done?"

The awkward, semi-annoyed voice made them both jump and look around. Link was looming over the bed like he had been the day before, face twisted in something that might've been embarrassment or irritation. Maybe a combo. How the hell had he gotten in again?

"You were taking too long, so I wondered if some of Lavi's injury had carried over into today," Link explained, when he saw their surprise. "I see that's not the case."

"Yeah, I'm right as rain!" said Lavi, scrambling up. "Look at me! No blood or anything!"

He laughed uncomfortably. Kanda ignored him, looking up at Link. The guy might've been an arrogant bastard, but he had proven before that he knew a lot more about how the Ark stuff worked than the others. Maybe he might have some information.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Link looked down at him. He didn't seem surprised at all by the question, though he looked a little troubled.

"It's true," he said quietly, "that there has been absolutely no record of Innocence being capable of healing."

"What do you mean?" said Lavi.

"I mean that Miranda Lotto's Innocence is causing the rewind, and therefore everything's recovery," said Link, glancing up at him too. "But Innocence isn't a healer. Innocence is a weapon that seeks to destroy something. It can protect its accommodator, but it can't heal them. It can't do anything once they're damaged. If it could heal, then there would be countless more of you running around. It's been observed over centuries. It is _fact_."

"Then what's Miranda's doing?" said Lavi, looking uneasy. "I mean, if it takes away the damage…."

"That damage goes somewhere, doesn't it?" said Kanda. He hadn't even meant to say that, but something inside had produced the voice for him. Disturbed, he clutched at Mugen's handle and felt a faint pulse from it. Yes, that had been Mugen.

"What, so it inflicts the damage on something else?" said Lavi, baffled. "But if it could slap all that damage on Akuma, then why aren't they all destroyed yet?"

"I don't think that's what it is," said Link.

And oddly enough, that was when Kanda realized that this was the longest, most polite conversation they'd ever had with this guy. They weren't calling him names, and he actually sounded pretty damn honest. He seemed almost… sympathetic or something. And it took a crisis to get to this stage….

"Explain," Kanda said softly.

"My theory is that this Innocence is actually a pause button."

Pause? Kanda rolled the word around in his mind, trying to make sense out of the thing. He hadn't considered that possibility earlier. None of them had, to his knowledge. He didn't know what kind of consequences this kind of thing would have, so he slowly muttered, "Pause? Not rewind?"

Atuuda floated sedately around the other man's shoulders while Link picked his words. It took a little while, but at last, he continued, "Yes, a pause. We're stuck on the same day, same basic events, with damage disappearing because the Innocence decides it doesn't belong. But when the Innocence is released, the pause will be gone and the world will move forward. Everything will go to how it's supposed to be. Damage included."

Kanda's heart nearly stopped. He thought it would be bad, but Link's theory made it worse. Once the dome fell, all the injuries would come rushing back at once, wouldn't they?

"If your theory's right, I think we're in some deep shit," Lavi grumbled.

"It's only a theory," Link said, as if in apology. "Though I really do think it would be best if we all avoided being hurt as much as possible. You in particular."

"I can't argue too much with that," said Lavi. "But I'm not about to stand back while you guys are in trouble."

"I didn't expect you to," said Link, shrugging. "Just avoid unnecessary injury."

"I can do that," said Lavi.

"Just stay at the back today," said Kanda, slipping his legs off the bed and getting to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah. That just means I get to hang with the ladies," Lavi shot back, smirking.

Kanda just rolled his eyes and moved over toward the dresser for some clothes. Link moved out of his way without a word, and he crouched down, opening the shirt drawer. He picked out the ugliest one he could find (a pale pink t-shirt with a repulsive, magenta cartoon rabbit on it with its tongue sticking out), and chucked it at Lavi's head. It hit him full in the face, and he pulled it off his head quickly. But instead of looking annoyed or joking, he seemed pensive.

"What?" Kanda snapped.

"I just realized," said Lavi. "You didn't push me out of the bed today. You've done that every time, but not today."

"What, you think I'd hit a cripple?" said Kanda.

Lavi looked like he didn't know whether to be amused or insulted. Link snorted.

* * *

The knocking came at Miranda's door around eight twenty. She hopped off the couch as if it had burned her, and hurried over to the door, throwing it open without even thinking about what might be on the other side. Luckily it was no Akuma, but Lenalee's surprised face looking back at her.

"G-good morning, Miranda," she said, smiling. "You're looking a little pale, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I just saw some of the news," said Miranda, giggling forlornly and waving her hand. "It's nothing, really."

"Oh…" said Lenalee. She looked down at her shoes, fidgeting for a moment, before looking back up and offering another one of those big white boxes. "Um, did you eat breakfast already?"

Miranda looked down at the box, thought of her breakfast, and decided that one doughnut couldn't hurt.

"No, I haven't," she lied, opening the door wider so the girl could enter. "Thank you so much for bringing breakfast, especially for so many days."

"It's the least I can do!" said Lenalee, walking inside. "I mean, you're opening your house to us and all already."

"It's really not that much," Miranda muttered.

"Of course it is! Don't underestimate hospitality," Lenalee giggled.

Miranda paused in walking after her, a memory coming unbidden to her mind. _"You've helped us more than you know…"_ She scratched nervously at the cross mark on her hand, and forced the thought away. It wouldn't do to dwell on Allen, especially after the events of yesterday.

"You're a bit earlier than usual today, aren't you?" she said instead, glancing at the clock. "Did something happen, or…"

"No, not really," said Lenalee. An odd look crossed her face that Miranda couldn't place. Lenalee set the boxes down on the coffee table, eyed them for a moment, then turned and said, "My brother woke me up this morning."

"Oh?" said Miranda, not quite sure what to make of that. Komui had struck her as a fickle, flighty sort of person who could change moods at the drop of a hat.

"He was all excited. Woke me up, told me he'd fix it, and not to worry. He took my golem, too," said Lenalee. "And when I left, he'd brought all his coworkers in for something."

"Coworkers? But doesn't he work on robots?" said Miranda, remembering the conversation yesterday.

"Yeah. I've got no clue what he's up to, and I don't know how he got up before me, since it's never happened on any of the other repeat days. It makes me a little uneasy, but I'm sure he'll be okay. Reever will make sure he doesn't get in too much trouble," she laughed quietly as she opened the top box.

Miranda didn't know how to respond.

"He gets in trouble often…?"

"Not serious trouble. Just annoying people and slacking at work…."

There was a squeak as the door opened. Miranda peeked around the corner to see Alma and Timothy coming in.

"Hey," said Alma, giving a small wave as he closed the door. "Hope you don't mind us just walking in again. We saw Lenalee come in and just assumed…."

"Oh, you're okay! It's fine!" said Miranda, gesturing for them to come in.

Timothy barely got out a 'good morning' before he dodged around her to get at the doughnuts.

"Oh! You actually got here before the others!" said Lenalee, sounding a little surprised.

"Yeah. There was some trouble with an Akuma in the neighborhood that woke us up," Alma said with a shrug. "It didn't do much damage though. Kept trying to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

"It sounded like a frog," said Timothy, and Miranda chuckled. At that reaction, he smiled and said, "Yeah! Sounded real bad, all croaky and stuff."

"I've never heard of a frog singing," said Miranda.

She was somewhat surprised, but pleased when he sat down on the couch next to her, beaming up at her like she was at least remotely interesting.

"You should feel lucky! I bet it would've made your ears bleed!"

"It wasn't that bad," Alma snickered.

"It totally was!"

Miranda listened to them bicker, a smile on her face. It felt as if these people belonged in the house now, the same as the clock or herself. She didn't know how or when she'd grown so fond of them, but she knew, looking around, that she treasured all of them. Even sour-faced Kanda, who came trudging in not ten minutes later. They'd all taken their seats and a few doughnuts when the last three arrived. Kanda slouched in the lead, followed by Lavi, whole and well, bouncing jokes off of Link (who actually looked vaguely amused). At the sight they'd all leapt up and sprung at Lavi, asking how he was, was he still hurt, was he okay, he had scared them all… Miranda hung near the back of the group, eager to see him too, but somehow she'd known, since waking up this morning, that he was okay.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Lavi laughed, pushing them all back a bit. "The rewind did its job, and as far as I know, the surgery was done anyway. I'm good."

"You're sure?" said Lenalee.

"_Sure_," he said firmly.

"He's still staying in the back of the group today," said Kanda.

Lenalee gave Lavi a weak glare, as if she was trying to make him talk. He just smiled and raised his hands up in surrender.

"Honestly, Lenalee. Look at me. I'm good."

"If you're sure…"

"He still stays in the back," said Kanda.

"Um… why?" Miranda said quietly.

Kanda looked at her, but didn't say anything. At least it wasn't an angry look, though. More thoughtful than anything. Distantly, she wondered if this meant she was worming her way into his good books.

"It's nothing to worry about right now," he said at last, looking away.

Any further conversation between them was dropped as Lavi ran past, heading for the doughnuts.

"Well he doesn't act like he's hurt, does he?" said Lenalee.

"No, no he doesn't," said Alma. "Good sign, I think."

Miranda was glad they thought so. She drifted over to Lavi as the boy picked out some of the doughnuts and flopped into the same armchair he'd claimed the previous few days.

"I… I want to apologize," she said quietly, bowing her head. "I feel like it was my fault. If I hadn't…"

"Hey."

A glazed doughnut was thrust into her face, and she reeled back in surprise. Lavi was smiling up at her, but there was something strangely serious in his eye.

"It's not your fault. You and Allen were really close, it makes sense you got excited. If anything it's my own damn fault for not paying attention. I didn't notice it was an Akuma either," he said. "So don't blame yourself."

"Lavi…"

"So, should we be talking about the plan for today?" said Alma, not having heard their conversation, walking back to the couch. "In case you want to change it?"

"Yesterday's system worked," said Link.

"Yeah, but Lavi got hurt pretty badly," said Alma, looking dubious.

"That was his own stupidity," Kanda said in reply, getting a dirty look in reply.

"Yeah, I'll pay attention this time!" said Lavi.

"You sure?"

"Well it's not like we've got any other way to find the Akuma, right?"

Alma sighed, sinking back onto the couch.

"Times like these, I wish I was cursed like that too," he muttered. "But sure. We'll go with the same plan. But let's not have that happen again."

"Right," said Lavi, giving a salute.

* * *

Noise Marie hovered in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, hesitating. Anyone who knew him could tell you that he had senses that went far beyond those of the average blind man, 'super hearing' chief among them. But even more than that, he'd found that he could sense a person's presence even without hearing their voice or movements. And that was why he was confused.

Kanda was in the living room.

But Kanda could not be in the living room, because he was stuck somewhere inside the dome, in Mater. He had been for nearly two weeks. They'd had no communication with him whatsoever since he left that fateful Saturday. So it could not be Kanda. But it _felt_ like Kanda. It had some of his presence, at least. But it was… off. And as Marie stood there, quiet and still, he realized it was too quiet and still. He couldn't hear the other breathe. He couldn't hear another heartbeat.

"Hello?" he said after a while.

There was no response, and he grew more anxious. What kind of creature was there in the living room? To give off another's presence while remaining dead….

"Oh, Marie."

Marie jumped and turned his head slightly toward the sound. It was Tiedoll's voice.

"Father," he murmured. "What… what is that in the living room?"

There was a moment of silence, and then a sigh.

"Ah… I suppose you've found my 'Art of Kanda.'"

"Your what?"

"'Art of Kanda.' It's a life-size sculpture of him," Tiedoll replied, sounding both proud and wistful. "You probably can't see it, but he's smiling."

"Smiling?"

"Like the sun."

Marie shuddered at the thought. But a smile wasn't enough to explain the strange phenomenon.

"I don't understand. What is it made of?" he asked.

"I made it with Innocence."

Marie's brow furrowed in confusion. Of course he knew it wasn't made from the idea of innocence since that was impossible, but it was very feasible that Tiedoll had found some sort of new material and dubbed it 'innocence' for some artistic reason or another. Clay, or paper mache, or some other style, he had no idea.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," he admitted. "Is this a new technique you're trying, or…."

"Oh, it's actually a rather old technique of mine," Tiedoll chuckled. "I was just testing it out after a while, since I think I may have to use it again very soon. I didn't actually think you'd find it, though. I just stepped out to get some water…."

Honestly, Marie had come running as soon as he sensed Kanda's presence in the house. Finding out that it wasn't him was both disappointing and reassuring, because he wasn't sure he wanted to know how someone could become so… lifeless.

"What material is it? And what could you possibly need it for?" he asked.

There was a strange rush of warmth through the air, not carried by any air current, but bleeding into and away from the air around them. A chill ran down Marie's spine as a result, and once it was gone, he realized the strange presence had vanished too.

"What…."

"Innocence isn't the kind of material your usual artist uses," said Tiedoll, as if he hadn't noticed a thing.

Marie jumped as he felt the old man take hold of his hand, setting it over his own. There was something in the old man's palm, something like a thick paintbrush with no bristles, but there was some sort of design raised on top of it. It felt warm, like it had been in the sun for a long while.

"This is part of my Innocence," he said.

"Your Innocence?" Marie echoed. "You mean the tool for it?"

"In a way, the Innocence is the tool," said Teidoll.

Marie frowned as he tried to puzzle out what was going on. Tiedoll chuckled again at the look.

"Innocence is actually a very complex thing, a very rare material with great power. No earthly thing could recreate someone in that way. It is my tool, my medium, and my greatest masterpiece. Though I have been neglecting it as of late. It's not too happy with me right now..."

The thing, whatever it was, seemed to shudder under Marie's hand, and he jerked his arm back.

"Father, what is going on? I don't know what that thing is, but-"

"It is Innocence," said Tiedoll. "I never got around to telling you anything about it, and even hoped you would never be caught up in its conflict, but I'm afraid the matter is out of my hands."

Had Tiedoll finally gone crazy? Marie didn't like to think of it, but the man had been living in the middle of paint fumes for longer than any of his adopted children had known him. Maybe they'd actually gotten to him. He rested a hand on Tiedoll's shoulder and said, gently, "Father, perhaps it would be best for you to sit down?"

Tiedoll started all-out laughing. His energy made Marie draw back in uneasiness.

When Tiedoll had gotten hold of himself, he said, "Oh, I'm afraid not. You see, I have some guests coming in to help with our little problem."

"What do you mean, our problem? What guests?" said Marie.

As if to mock him, it was exactly at this moment that the doorbell rang.

"Ah, that must be one of them now!"

Tiedoll walked back the way he'd come, and, uncertain of what else to do, Marie followed. The old man opened the front door, and Marie caught a faint whiff of smell. Parchment, and perfume. It was an odd combination, but it was explained when he realized that there were two people there. Two people with different beating hearts, different breathing patterns.

"Ah, I hadn't expected you two to arrive together," said Tiedoll. "Not that I mind. Any luck with the others?"

"Socalo is adamant on going on his own, and we can't get any contact through the mirrors," said a woman with a deep, firm voice. "God only knows where Cross is."

"I'm sure he'll turn up eventually," said Tiedoll. "Come in, are you thirsty? I could get you something to drink."

"Water would be much appreciated," said the second guest, who sounded like an elderly man. His voice issued from somewhere lower than Marie had expected. The man was short.

"Of course."

They all shuffled into the house, door closing behind them, and relocated to the living room. Marie took his usual seat, perplexed and feeling very out of place while the others took the seats usually reserved for Kanda and Tiedoll. When Tiedoll himself returned, he handed some water to the elderly man (there was a muttered 'thank you') before he sat down in Daisya's favorite chair.

"First things first," he said. "This is my oldest son, Marie. Marie, these are some of my old friends."

Marie tipped his head forward in greeting and mumbled, "It's nice to meet you."

Judging by the small groan of springs, the elderly man had returned the gesture.

"I am Bookman," he said. "I have no other name. It's good to see you in person, Marie."

Bookman. Like Lavi Bookman? Maybe this was the grandfather that redhead kept complaining about. Marie was about to ask if there was a relation, but the woman began to introduce herself first.

"I'm Cloud Nyne. This is my pet, Lau Jimin."

There was a strange sound, like the chattering of an animal, and Marie jumped. He hadn't noticed another heartbeat before, and even now, he couldn't sense whatever had made that noise. The woman might as well have been playing a recording, but he heard something land on the coffee table and skitter across, towards Tiedoll. He fisted his hands and tried to keep calm, despite the unidentified thing in front of him.

"Your student seems surprised, Froi," said Cloud.

Marie was torn between wondering how they were on first-name basis, and why she was calling him a student.

"Ah, well, I haven't exactly trained him," said Tiedoll.

"You haven't what?" said Cloud, a slight edge to her voice.

"I didn't think the war would follow us," Tiedoll said ruefully.

"That's perfectly natural to think. Unrealistic, but predictable," said Bookman, taking a sip of his water. "We all should've known better. Prepared for this better."

"Prepared for what?" said Marie.

"Marie, are you aware of what that dome over Mater is?" said Bookman.

"No. No one knows."

"It's called Innocence."

Another chill ran down Marie's spine. Innocence, like that 'Art of Kanda?' Whatever thing Tiedoll was using? Tiedoll had started this mess?

"I can fill you in on the basics, but a longer, better explanation will have to wait until later," Bookman said calmly, setting down his glass. Whatever creature Cloud had brought, it began to mess with the cup, making it clink against the wood. "In a nutshell, there is a very rare, sentient creature called Innocence, which takes the form of a crystal until it finds a human to serve as its host. Through the host, or whatever object it inhabits, it can manipulate the world around it. It is believed to wield holy power, and as such, is the only thing that can damage or destroy its opposite, Dark Matter. Dark Matter is a plague upon the world, and is created and controlled by a very powerful family, who seeks out and destroys Innocence whenever possible. They want to rule with no opposition, and Innocence is the only thing standing between them and complete control. To wipe out Innocence entirely, they would have to track down every individual piece, but there is a central core to Innocence, a piece that is, essentially, the leader. All other pieces obey it. Old writings refer to it as the Heart."

"And that's what made the dome?" said Marie, dubious.

"I believe the dome is a defense mechanism to protect the Heart. But the Heart is waking from its hibernation and gathering its pieces around it. You've felt it too, I imagine," said Bookman.

Marie didn't know what he meant by 'feeling it' and didn't particularly want to know. He was completely out of his element, and it was a frightening thought.

"I don't believe I have," he murmured reluctantly.

"You haven't felt the pull toward that dome? The thing that draws you there for no other reason than to sit and wait?"

Marie's jaw clenched.

"My brothers vanished into that thing. It's only natural that I go back there."

"But that's not the only reason. You hear the calling," said Bookman.

Lavi's grandfather or not, this man was getting frustrating. Marie didn't even know why this was getting under his skin, but it was and he resented it. His sightless eyes narrowed, and he glared at the place he judged Bookman to be.

"I hear no such thing."

"Then you're lying to yourself."

Marie opened his mouth to retort, but Tiedoll's hand rested on his arm. It was calming, but warning. The next thing he knew, something sharp was touching his temples. Not needle-sharp, but claws-sharp. He stiffened, realizing that Bookman had come to stand right in front of him. He hadn't heard the man move at all. Bookman pressed what must've been his nails a little harder in and said, "Listen."

There was a sting in his temples that made him wince. But almost immediately after that, he heard it. He had assumed before that there was a bug flying around the house- there had been a very faint droning sound for the past week that had been driving him up the wall - but now it changed, warped slightly so it was louder, but not. Intelligible, but not. It was a strange, wordless voice, barely audible, but definitely there. As he sat there, stunned, and listened, he came to the conclusion that it was trying to beckon him somewhere. There was no logical reason he should've thought so, nothing in what the voice was saying, or even how it was saying it.

"What is this?" he breathed.

"What you're hearing is the Heart," Bookman said softly, removing his hands. "It is gathering all the hosts and Innocence shards in this world to it. Mater has become the center of power, and as such, we can expect the battle to take place there."

"What do you mean, battle?" said Marie.

"It can't have gone unnoticed by Dark Matter this long," said Cloud. "Either it's been heard, or they'll be tracking our movements. Both powers will be converging on the city in a matter of days."

"The last time the Heart of Innocence was involved in a battle, the result was disastrous. We have to get into the dome and start fighting as soon as possible, so the Dark Matter can't get the upper hand," said Tiedoll.

"If it does, then our world may be destroyed," said Bookman.

"And when we say destroyed, we don't mean regimes will crumble." said Cloud. "We mean that people will be wiped off the face of the planet. There will be no life left. Dark Matter has done this to other worlds. We can't risk it happening here."

They showed no sign of telling a lie. Marie just sat there in stupefied silence as he tried to absorb it all. On the table, the glass tipped over and Lau Jimin shrieked.

* * *

They started out like yesterday. Alma flew over the streets, hunting for any sign of Akuma, while the rest followed along behind him. It was the same, right down to their places in Kanda's car.

"I'm getting a vague sense of déjà vu," Lavi joked.

Timothy sniggered, and Miranda cracked a smile. Kanda, on the other hand, didn't catch the humor.

"That's because it's the same day, idiot," he snapped. "Now watch that bastard."

Lavi frowned comically as he went back to staring out the window.

"Bastard, huh? I guess you guys really do have history," he muttered.

"Lavi…" Kanda growled, in a clear warning tone.

"Don't freak out at me," Lavi said quickly. "I just think it's annoying that we have no idea why you and Alma hate each other's guts. You don't have to go into a lot of detail, just a brief summary would be cool."

"Live without it," Kanda hissed.

"Really? You sure?"

"I will crash this car, I swear to god."

Kanda's knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel. Lenalee saw this and butted in, "Drop it Lavi, it's not worth it."

Wisely, Lavi decided to obey. He started tracking Alma with new enthusiasm.

"He wouldn't really crash the car over that, would he?" Miranda whispered.

"Maybe," Lenalee sighed, leaning back in her seat again. "He does have quite the temper…."

"That would be a bit extreme," Link muttered.

"I don't wanna die," said Timothy, barely audible.

"I can hear you all whispering back there!" said Kanda.

"Whoa!" cried Lavi, leaning out of the window. "We have Akuma!"

"Where?" said Kanda, immediately distracted, leaning forward to peer up out of the windshield.

Everyone in the car clambered toward the windows. Miranda leaned across Lenalee, trying to see what was going on. She caught a glimpse of Alma shooting through the air, followed by a much larger, darker form snaking after him.

"Dude, I think that's a dragon!" said Lavi, leaning out so far Miranda was worried he'd fall right out of the car. Timcanpy had been making excited circles around the ceiling, and now noticed this and seized the boy's shirt.

"Where the hell is he going?" Kanda growled.

"I don't know. Kinda hard to pinpoint anything when they just keep flying around up there," said Lavi.

"Then somebody get him on the communicators!" said Kanda, twisting the wheel sharply so they swerved out of the way of one of the police cars (as a result, Lavi tumbled back into his seat, squishing Timcanpy under him in the process).

"Alma?" Lenalee squeaked, holding her hand up to her ear. "Alma, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" came a muffled response.

"You've got an Akuma after you, right?"

"Yeah, nasty piece of work, too. Level two."

"Where are you going?" said Lenalee.

"At this point, nowhere. You got a preference on where to trap him?"

"We're coming up on Main Street. Want to just bring him down there?" said Lavi.

"Did you hear that, Alma?" said Lenalee.

"Yep. I'll bring him down!"

The car swerved again, this time not to avoid a car, but to enter a parking lot. It barely drove over the entryway before coming to a sudden halt as Kanda hit the brakes. He killed the engine and clambered out, saying, "Okay, everybody out. We're close enough."

"But your car!" said Lenalee, even as she jumped out onto the concrete. "It's not even in a parking space!"

"It's not like anybody else is going to use this lot today!" said Kanda, which was pretty accurate, as the car situation was, again, the same as yesterday.

"There's the diner!" said Lavi, pointing ahead. "And Central Bank, and… there they are!"

Alma flew by, low to the ground, the dragon-shaped Akuma close behind. As they watched, he veered left and wove through the pillars at the bank's entrance. The Akuma tried to keep up, but its longer, larger body had trouble getting through with the same ease, and ended up fishtailing into one of them. The pillar smashed to pieces, and the Akuma, now thrown off balance, fell squirming into the glass doors.

"Come on, let's destroy this thing!" Lavi cheered, starting to run.

With a click of the tongue, Kanda sprinted ahead of him, and after only a little hesitation, Lenalee was right on his heels. The rest of them ran behind, slowly catching up to the redhead. Alma alighted on a statue on their side of the street, and his wings vanished.

"I hoped this was the right place," he said, jumping down.

"Yeah, you got it alright!" said Lavi.

"Any idea what that Akuma's abilities are?" said Lenalee.

"It doesn't seem to have any, weirdly enough," said Alma. "Or at least, it never used them on me."

Over in the shadow of the bank building, the Akuma was propping itself up again. It did, indeed, look a bit like a dragon. It had a long, snakelike body that had to be at least five times as long as Kanda's car, and four relatively short limbs. On the front set, from shoulder to elbow, grew a pair of wings shaped oddly like open fans. Its face was a big flat mask of metal, with two large gaps for its crazed red eyes. From each corner of its rectangular mask stuck a small feathered wing. It thrashed its tail a bit, claws scrabbling on the broken glass as it steadied itself, and then it zeroed in on them.

"Accommodators!" it screeched.

"Is that all they ever say?" Lavi muttered.

"I'll rip you to pieces!"

The Akuma lunged, snaking toward them with blinding speed. They barely had time to scramble out of the way. Miranda fell over backwards in surprise, and the metal form whistled by inches away from her. The Akuma twisted sharply, rushing them again, and Alma and Kanda jumped in its way.

"Innocence, activate!"

Kanda swung Mugen upwards in an arc, and Alma launched a punch. They both connected at the same time, crumpling part of the mask. The Akuma squealed, trying to change direction mid-charge, and as it did, it exposed the rest of its body.

"We got this!" said Lavi, twirling his hammer over his head. It shot to the size of a minivan again, just in time for him to swing it into the Akuma's side.

In response, the Akuma turned to face him, and fire spewed from under its mask. Lavi stumbled back, holding up his hammer for protection, but Lenalee cut in with one of her tornadoes, with a shout of "Waltz! Misty Wind!" The fire was swept away entirely, singeing the side of the diner instead. She landed in front of Lavi.

"What happened to staying in the back?" she said.

"Ah, yeah," said Lavi, "kinda forgot."

He fell back to the others. Miranda was startled out of her observation when Link pulled her roughly to her feet.

"Oh, thank you," she said.

"Watch it next time. This one seems pretty unpredictable," he replied.

In a matter of moments, he and Lavi were standing on either side of her, Timothy just behind. She felt oddly trapped and protected at the same time. The hammer shifted in front of her as the Akuma straightened up, towering over them all. It was harder to tell with no face, but its voice sounded furious.

"You little bugs! You don't deserve to exist in this world!"

"I could say the same to you," Alma shot back, glaring.

"You're all insignificant little gnats! The Millennium Earl will swat you with no trouble!"

"Then send him out to do the fighting!" said Kanda. "Or is he too much of a coward?"

Alma gaped at him. The Akuma trembled with rage, and let out a shrill noise reminiscent of a tea kettle.

"Worms! Worms and filth!" it screamed, plunging its head down again.

This time its speed and direction were a little too much, so Kanda and Alma scattered. Its face smashed into the street instead, breaking the surface and sending chunks into the air. Lenalee leapt into the air and managed to deliver two hard kicks to the thing's neck before it rose up again. It swung its head around, glaring at them all, but stopped when its eyes landed on the little group to the side. Miranda squeaked under its gaze, cringing at its bloody eyes. Lavi and Link shifted their stances, lifting their weapons in warning. It was a warning that the Akuma didn't heed. It twisted about and bulled toward them, wings fanning out as it did so it seemed so much bigger, so much more dangerous.

"Crap!" Lavi hissed, tensing up.

The hammer grew to enormous size, eclipsing their view entirely. Miranda cowered as the noise grew closer, her hand moving back to touch Timothy's shoulder, as if to make sure he was still there…. And then it hit. The hammer was knocked backwards on impact. Lavi, still holding the handle, yelped as it yanked him back, but it didn't stop there. The head crashed into the others too. Miranda's whole body stung after the hit, sending her staggering back several feet. Timothy ended up sprawled on the ground, but Link had somehow managed to avoid the most of the damage. The blond grabbed the hammer, and with some difficulty, began to clamber up it. At the top, he whipped out his spell papers and cried, "Binding Wings!"

"Hey, you guys okay?" Lavi called.

"I'll live," Miranda groaned. "Timothy? What about you?"

"I thought that was supposed to protect us, not hurt us!" Timothy whined, rolling over.

"Well it did! Just imagine what would've happened if that Akuma was the one hitting us!" said Lavi, jogging back up to them, handle shrinking on his way. "But really, sorry about that. Wasn't expecting it to hit that hard."

"It's fine…" said Miranda. "It's not still attacking though, is it?"

"I dunno," said Lavi.

In what was probably stupidity, the hammer began to shrink. Link wobbled precariously as he tried to keep his place, and sent a murderous glare back at them. In any case, now they could see the Akuma. Link had bound its legs, so now its limbs were useless. Instead, it was making use of its long body to thrash wildly, in the hopes that it could crush one of them that way. Lenalee and Alma were avoiding its flailing with relative ease, but Kanda wasn't as fast, and had a bit more trouble.

"You'll all die!" the Akuma cried. "By my hand or another's, you'll all die!"

"Oh, just shut up!" said Lenalee, scoring a long gouge in its side.

The Akuma shrieked and wheeled in pain, and its head slammed against the spike on top of the hammer. As a result the thing upended, sending Link tumbling and Lavi (still gripping the handle) rocketing into the air. Both of them yelped in near unison. It would've been funny if not for the dangerous situation. Link hurried back behind the hammer with speed Miranda had seen only in Innocence accommodators, while Lavi kicked and yelled from his position in the air.

"Holy crap, somebody get me down!"

Predictably, Lenalee came to the rescue. She flew over and grabbed him around the middle, easing him back down to the ground. Over with the others, Kanda found an opening and slashed nearly halfway through the Akuma's neck. Before it could fall back or try to protect itself, Alma ran in and severed the rest of it with one clean blow. The Akuma's head clattered away, and its body collapsed. Lavi swore and made the hammer grow again, just in time to block the following explosion. Chunks of the dragon rained down behind them, clattering off of the hammer as they hid in its shadow. Miranda heaved a long sigh of relief.

"Is it dead?" said Timothy. When no one corrected him, his face lit up. "Yeah, you guys killed it!"

"Is everybody okay?" said Lenalee, looking over all of them gathered. "When it attacked you earlier…"

"Ah, it was just a bump," said Miranda, though really she felt like half her body would be bruised. It still smarted where she'd been hit.

"It was nothing serious," Link agreed.

"Then I guess we just need to make sure the other two are okay," said Lavi.

The hammer shrank down again, revealing the damage. The Akuma's exit had left a crater in the street, revealing some bent and twisted piping below. The area was blackened, like it had been seared by fire, and there were cracks everywhere, not to mention scattered brick from the bank's destroyed pillar. Alma and Kanda were standing right there in the middle of it, up in each other's faces and arguing again. Miranda didn't know whether to be relieved or exasperated.

"What kind of bonehead are you?" Alma was saying. "Telling it to go get the Earl to fight? You might as well off yourself now!"

"Whatever kind of sorry excuse for a king he is, he should fight his own damn battles!" Kanda retorted.

"No! No way in hell, he would wipe us out in a second! Be happy with the Akuma!"

"What are you, a scaredy-cat?"

"No, just someone who values their life and wishes to keep on living! You, on the other hand, seem suicidal!"

"Hey, you're the idiot, if we take down the Earl it'll all be over, right?"

"But you cannot take down the Earl! It is impossible without the Heart! Completely nuts!"

"Says the alien from a different freaking world!"

"Alien? Well at least I'm not Earth-scum like you!"

"Freaking stalker!"

"Crabby jerk!"

They started trying to fight each other again, in the same childish, wrestling manner. Frowning deeply, Lenalee stalked over to them. She forced her way between them, trying to push them apart. They didn't pay attention to her, though, just kept fighting around her. Unfortunately, her being in the middle, she was still in the way.

"Break it up, you- Hey! Stop! Would you just- Listen to- Hey!"

After a minute she got fed up with being pushed about. She shouldered Alma roughly and kicked Kanda in the shin. While they paused and swore, she took the opportunity to shove them further away. Once they were at arms' length, she cried, "For the love of god, stop! This is all you two ever do, fight, fight, fight!"

"Well if he'd just think for once and stop blaming everyone for things, then maybe we could get along!" said Alma.

"Hey, I've been thinking plenty!" Kanda spat. "And I'm just pointing out the obvious!"

"Why do you hate me, huh?" Alma hissed. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You know, you bas-"

"I said stop!" Lenalee shouted, loud enough that Miranda winced. "I don't want to hear it! I'm so sick and tired of this argument! Just grow up!"

They both wheeled to glare at her, mouths opening to retort, but whatever they were going to say, Miranda never found out. From the glass on the ground, two hands covered in red and black armor shot up. One grabbed Lenalee by the ankle, the other the bottom of her shirt, and they yanked her down. The girl barely had time to gasp in surprise before she was dragged down and vanished entirely.

"Shit!" cried Alma, falling to the ground and grabbing at the glass. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"What the hell was that?" yelled Kanda.

"A level three!" said Alma, frantically trying to reach his reflection. "It dragged her into the limbo!"

"Say what?" said Lavi, looking horrified.

"W-wait, how bad is a level three?" said Timothy.

"_Bad_! Twice as bad as level two!" said Alma.

Miranda began to shake. Twice as bad? Level twos had nearly killed them in their group! If this one was so much more powerful, Lenalee on her own probably wouldn't stand a chance!

"No, it can't be… Lenalee can't…."

"Why didn't you do anything?" said Kanda, and Alma looked up at him in incredulity.

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

"You're the Ark person, you should've noticed something!"

"I can't see what's behind the mirrors, you-"

Fighting again? Now, of all times? Miranda stared at them in disbelief at first, but the feeling slowly changed. No, she wasn't disbelieving. She was angry. Lavi said something to her, but she didn't hear it, too focused. She didn't know what possessed her, but she stomped up, grabbed the two by their collars, and screamed into their faces.

"_SHUT UP_!"

Silence rang for a second after her shout. Kanda and Alma stared at her in shock, and when she thought about it, the others must've been just as surprised. But she wasn't focusing on that.

"I don't care about your stupid little fight! I don't care why or how it started! Hell, I don't care if you end up killing yourselves over it anymore, but save it until after this mess is over, then you can rip each other to pieces if you want to. But right now all you're doing is pulling us down! You and your stupid pride, and your stupid fight! It's going to get us all killed by the Akuma because you can't focus on a damn thing! Lenalee's just been kidnapped, and all you're doing is pointing fingers! We have to help Lenalee!" Her eyes burned, and tears were sliding down her face now. "Lenalee… we can't just leave her to die! How… how can we help her? T-there must be something we can do…!"

Miranda bowed her head, shoulders shaking. Her grip loosened as she tried to choke back her tears. Wasn't she supposed to be strong right now? Force them into doing something? All the strength she'd had a moment ago was gone. She felt so worthless.

"Golems…."

"What?" she said, looking up.

Alma still looked a little shell-shocked, but began to look more thoughtful as he repeated, "Golems. That's it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean golems can go between worlds as they please. If we can get golems through there, they might be able to at least distract the Akuma, and Lenalee would be able to escape. One of us could pull her back through," he said, looking more and more confident.

"Then we might be able to save her?" Miranda breathed, barely able to believe it.

"Yeah! Timcanpy!" cried Alma, waving wildly, and the gold golem fluttered over to him. "Go back to the limbo and try to help Lenalee!"

Timcanpy flicked its tail in what must've been agreement, and zipped down to the ground. It pressed itself into the largest of the glass shards, beating its wings wildly, and slowly, slowly, it sank down and out of sight. As it did this, Kanda dug around in his jacket and pulled out his own golem.

"Follow it," he ordered, and the thing followed immediately.

"Mine too!" Lavi said quickly, shooing his golem toward the group. Soon the three golems had vanished, and Alma turned to Link.

"Link, we're going to need Atuuda too."

"In the limbo?" said Link.

"No, we need him to follow the golems on this side, so we know where they'll be to pull Lenalee out," said Alma. "Otherwise she might end up running to the other side of the city and we'd never know. Think you can convince him to do that?"

Link turned to eye the golem critically for a moment, then glanced back.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Good. Let's get going."

* * *

Lenalee had no breath to scream. It felt as if she was being forced through a small pipe, and she couldn't struggle at all as the thing, whatever it was, dragged her further down. There was a sickening feeling in her stomach, as if gravity had flip-flopped, and then the hands let go. She was suddenly free of whatever that restriction had been, but there was a sting following it, like her body had been jarred badly. She was sent flipping into the air. She opened her eyes, not sure when she'd closed them, and was stunned by the sheer amount of blue. Her Innocence kicked in, straightening her out, and finally the world stopped spinning.

She wasn't in Mater anymore.

The place she was in now was a wide expanse of blue. Far below, a great lake spread out, water almost completely smooth, save for the ripples moving out from a single point. It was bordered by darker blue land, which was peppered in pale white ruins. Grand arches and what were once strong stone walls lay scattered with other chunks and dark, dead-looking trees between them. Snow was falling slowly around, but there were no clouds to produce it- the only thing in the sky above was an eerie, pockmarked crescent moon. If it weren't for the snow and the fading ripple, it would've been completely still and silent. There was no wind. No sound.

"Where am I?" Lenalee whispered.

"You don't know?"

The voice that replied was deep, and bone chilling. Lenalee looked down. The speaker was tall, at least a foot taller than she was. It appeared to be a human, but its limbs were spidery, and it was wearing strange red armor on top of tight black. Its face wasn't human at all. It was elongated, and shaped more like a naked skull than a face, with sharp gray teeth barely visible under its strangely-shaped helmet. A long mane of tangled orange hair stuck out the back of that helmet, defying gravity in the same way its owner was. It only took a glance and that voice for Lenalee to pin down what it was.

"Akuma," she said.

"That's right," said the Akuma, clenching its teeth still tighter in what Lenalee guessed was supposed to be a smile. "And I'm here to kill you, girl."

There was something about this Akuma that set it apart from the others she had faced. Maybe it was how human the thing looked, maybe it was simply how threatening it looked or sounded, but Lenalee knew it was a lot worse than the level twos they'd been hunting. This one could kill her much more easily. She had to destroy it fast. Her Innocence responded immediately, hissing and spitting green flame. What looked like a butterfly unfolded itself at each of her heels, and Lenalee exhaled one shaky breath. She let herself tip forward, and kicked off. She flew down at the Akuma, and it raised its hands, forming a box with its fingers that it peered up through, looking more excited.

"_Title_…"

It shifted, bringing back one arm.

This wasn't going to work.

With that panicked thought, Lenalee changed direction. She shot high up in the air again. She'd gone so fast there that she felt a little sick to her stomach, but she could hear the Akuma's grunt of surprise. She flipped, raised one leg, and came down again with a shout. She only caught the tip of its helmet, but the force made it spin head over heels while she kept traveling. The Innocence flame left a trail of fiery green in her path. Once she was a good distance away, she changed course, launching off the air to shoot upwards once more, fast as a bullet. The green light had barely faded as she went back along its path. The Akuma righted itself, just in time to block her kick. The butterflies flared, and green flame spat all around them. But even in its glow, it was obvious that the Akuma wasn't harmed. It had blocked her with a single arm. Panicking, she swung her other leg up. It caught her foot this time, knocked her other foot away, and before she could do anything, it had slugged her across the face. The force sent her flying.

Pain radiated from her cheek where it had hit, and she gingerly gritted her teeth, tasting blood, but finding no missing teeth.

"You're pretty fast, little girl," said the Akuma.

Crap, it was gaining on her!

Lenalee swiped at it with her legs, but the Akuma evaded them easily, chuckling quietly at her struggle. She dropped down again, fast as before, and caught its ankles. The Innocence shrieked as she spun, whipping the Akuma with her. Her arms strained, but she kept spinning, faster and faster and faster, and finally let go. The Akuma fell fast, somersaulting through the air until it hit the surface of the lake with a splash that must've gone several feet up.

_It's not over. Finish it. Finish it or it will kill you._

Lenalee descended too, fisting her hands to try to keep them steady. The water was back to being nearly still when she reached it, a few tiny waves being the only evidence that something had crashed into it. Hesitantly, Lenalee set one foot on the surface. It felt as if something had shifted, like the gears of a bike. The green fire vanished from the boots. She didn't sink, though. She brought the other foot down, and slowly realized that she could walk on water.

Any excitement this might've brought was forgotten, as the Akuma rose out of the lake a few feet away. Water dribbled down its armor as its mouth opened. At first, it hissed. Lenalee took a step back, ready to flee, but then the Akuma roared. The water was sent up into the air at the noise. It was high enough that it covered Lenalee entirely, soaking her to the bone in cold and blocking her view. She covered her mouth and nose and tried to hold her breath, but the air was knocked out of her lungs as another blow struck her in the stomach. She didn't even see where it came from. The force sent her down below the surface.

She struggled a bit, fighting to keep her mouth shut to save the last of her air, and opened her eyes. It wasn't salt water, because it didn't sting, and it was amazingly clear- she could see the Akuma perfectly.

She swam furiously upward (thanking those swimming classes in grade school and the extra power from the Innocence), to a point that was hopefully far enough away from the Akuma, but as soon as she took a gulp of air, she knew she was screwed. The water had formed a dip around the Akuma, like a liquid crater, and she'd come up in the side. With a laugh, the Akuma flicked its finger, and the water changed, dragging her this way and that, left and right until it closed over her head entirely and drove her deeper in a whirlpool. Lenalee fought it for a moment, then followed the movement, letting it carry her part of the way before activating her Innocence again. She shot out of the water and gave the Akuma three swift kicks before diving into the water again. As she'd expected, the whirlpool vanished with its concentration. Her boots propelled her fast under the water, to the other side of the Akuma, where she shot up again and gave it a good side kick to the face. It reeled and lashed out. This time it caught her in the side. She hit the water again and skidded across it with a yell of pain. She forced the boots to work again, scrambling up in the tumble, and stood up again.

But this time, she wasn't standing firmly. Her feet dropped back below the surface, as if pulled by giant magnets. Lenalee gasped and fought to get them back on top of the surface again, flailing and freaking out even more when she realized she couldn't.

"Come on!" she hissed. "Come on! What's wrong with you?"

"Having some trouble?"

And now the Akuma was looming over her. Great. She fought some more, to no avail.

"What did you do to me?" she said.

"It's my ability," it replied, leering. "With my power, I control the pull of the earth. There is nothing I can't defeat. Not you, and not your companions."

Lenalee froze, and her legs sunk in deeper before she remembered to fight it. Her companions? Had the Akuma been watching them or something?

"Once I kill you, I'll go after the rest of your comrades," said the Akuma. "I'll deal with them the same way. Drag them into the limbo one by one, and let them die here. I'll savor the fear and despair as they drown, and watch as the ones left behind grow more and more desperate with every loss. It will be magnificent… a grand work of art…."

"That won't work! You're not going to… get rid of me so easily!" Lenalee panted, but even as she spoke, her legs were getting further and further down. "I'll… I'll still beat you!"

"Perhaps you should see what you're dealing with," laughed the Akuma.

The air around her wavered, and then took form. It was a string of large, ornate, gold chains with skull designs on them. They hung in the air around her and curled around her limbs, glowing with a strange purple light that made her breath speed up. That stuff was evil, whatever it was. But… this was the thing that was dragging her down. Now that it was visible, she could do something about it. Without any more thought, she attacked it, trying to pull it off of her legs, but they were immovable. They didn't even shift as she tugged at them. Their glow intensified, and the pull increased. At this point her breath came in short, wheezing gasps. She pushed and pulled against the weight with all she had and kept kicking, but nothing worked. She kept sinking, up to her waist, up to her chest, up to her neck… and soon only her face was above the water. She stared up at the sky in terror. It wasn't working. Nothing was working.

"Innocence! I-Innocence!" she whispered.

This time nothing happened. It wasn't going to save her. The Akuma leaned over and put a foot on her face, pressing down with just enough force to push her under.

"Sink."

Lenalee tried desperately to stay up, to taste the air, but her gasping and struggles only seemed to be bringing more water into her mouth. She choked. The Akuma pushed her further under, and she found that she just didn't have the energy to keep going anymore. She really couldn't beat this. Slowly, she stopped moving. Her legs stopped pedaling, her arms went still. Without that resistance, the chains dragged her down, and the foot left her face. She watched in near apathy as the Akuma formed the box with its fingers again, and heard it say, muffled, "Title: The Saint Who Fell Into Darkness."

Far above, something glinted gold. Lenalee's eyes followed it, but she didn't much care. She was going to die anyway. It wasn't like that thing would make any difference. Whatever it was, it circled the Akuma's head twice, then went down to the water. It dove under and came toward her, flapping its wings and tail to move itself.

Timcanpy?

It really was Timcanpy, she decided. The golem had come after her for some reason or another. Golems could move between the worlds, couldn't they? Lenalee reached out to it and focused her thoughts, hoping that it might have some sort of telepathy.

_Warn the others_, she thought. _Warn them. The Akuma is going to come after them._

Timcanpy either didn't have telepathy, or ignored her. It nipped at her fingertips and then swam around to grab one of the chains. It tugged at the things, but its efforts were just as useless as Lenalee's. She watched it in mixed disappointment and indifference. Timcanpy was just as stubborn as its master, she reflected. Neither of them would stop fighting for people even when it was obvious they were going to die. Allen had done it with Suman, and Timcanpy was doing the same with her. She tried to shoo it away, but it just gripped on tighter. Pigheaded as its master. Allen… They'd lost him.

Allen….

Allen….

But Allen had done something, hadn't he. He'd become even more powerful in face of danger. He'd passed his synchronization rate or something. Had more power than he could control. If Lenalee could draw a similar power from her Innocence, then wouldn't it be possible to destroy that Akuma? Allen hadn't actually been trying to hurt Suman, but if that light show had been anything to go by, he'd had more than enough strength to do so. She could use that power to beat this thing.

_"It's practically suicide!"_ Alma's warning rang in her head, but that was okay. If she was going to die either way, she'd go with the option that kept the others safe. She would protect them, even if it killed her.

With the last of her air, she said, "Innocence! Activate!"

_One hundred percent!_ said her mind, and finally, it reacted. The boots changed, so they seemed to be made of green light rather than the bloody crystal she was used to. Pain shot up her spine, making her curl, while the boots screamed. It was as if most of her body had gone numb, except her legs were burning terribly. It felt almost like knifes were being pushed into her feet, but she bit her tongue and bore it as green flame blazed back into existence. The light formed a bubble around her, and with a screeching sound, pushed away the chains until they were several feet from her. The result was like she'd dropped a hundred pounds. Light as a feather now, she kicked upwards. The Innocence shot her up faster than ever, but she felt the drag, and there was a sensation as if something was clawing around inside her stomach. She was scared, but she could do this. Allen had managed it and lived. Maybe she could do the same.

The water roared up as she met the air. She took several gulps of oxygen before looking back at the Akuma. It spread its arms, laughing, as if to welcome her back. She hated that thing. She hated it like she'd never hated anything before.

"I'll destroy you now!" she screamed, lunging.

"Do your best, accommodator!" it cackled.

Her first kick landed on its collar, and it caught it, but she swung her other leg in a crescent kick, right into the side of its head. The impact made a loud clang, and a surge of energy roared from the spot. Sparks flew from the Akuma's helmet, and Lenalee cringed as more pain erupted in her leg. On the plus side, the Akuma's grip had loosened. She slipped out of its hold, but it recovered quickly and pursued her.

"It's useless, girl!" the creature cried. "Even with all your strength, you can't defeat me!"

They rose up in the air, kicking and dodging and punching and evading. Even with her Innocence going faster, hitting stronger, Lenalee was scared. She wasn't making much of a dent in the Akuma at all. Even worse, she kept spitting up blood. She didn't know what that meant, apart from it being very, very bad. The feeling only doubled when the boots stopped working. With a squeak of fright she plummeted, but the Akuma caught her by the arm and held her up. She glanced down, trying to make the boots work again. The light there sputtered, crackling angrily, and something she didn't quite recognize was going hysterical at the back of her mind.

_No more!_ whatever it was murmured. _No more! Too much! Too much!_

No, it wasn't enough. She had to push it further. Further!

Her legs spasmed, and she inhaled sharply. She was getting cold. Horribly, horribly cold, and it had nothing to do with the water. There was a tightening on her face and neck, as if clay had dried there, making it stiff and itchy. She couldn't raise her other arm, because it was just too heavy. Ah. So this was what it felt like when someone pushed their Innocence too far. It was the beginning of their 'suicide.'

"You see? Useless," said the Akuma.

Lenalee grit her teeth in frustration, trying to force herself to move. The Akuma raised its free hand to attack… and then gold zoomed into its face. Timcanpy fluttered around its head, yanking at its hair and being a general nuisance. Brave, stupid golem. The Akuma turned its head to avoid it, but the golem was relentless. With an annoyed hiss, it finally caught it. Timcanpy wriggled in its grip for a full two seconds before the Akuma fisted its hand, and the golem shattered. Its pieces fell between the Akuma's fingers, and Lenalee watched in horror.

"Little nuisance," the Akuma scoffed.

It flung her down after them. She didn't even bother trying to use the boots this time, just reached out. Her fingertips brushed against part of a damaged wing. Timcanpy had been the only thing they had left from Allen. Maybe it hadn't been much for the others, but for her at least, its presence had been reassuring. She had no idea how different things would be without it. How would Miranda react to this? The woman's face flashed into her mind, followed by Allen's. Timcanpy had been precious to both of them. So precious. She grabbed one of the shards and held it tight in her fist.

"I can't forgive you," she breathed. "Innocence, stop holding back. I need your power. I need to defeat this Akuma, no matter what the cost is." The wind whistled past her ears as she waited for a response. "Innocence!"

_Be careful._

The 'voice' sounded terribly sad.

The butterflies on her heels doubled in size, and she shot up toward the moon. The further she went, the less she felt. By the time she stopped, she felt as if she could touch that moon. She bent forward, looking down. The Akuma looked like an ant, the lake like a pond. The chains were still strung around in the air around her, but her Innocence had changed. It wasn't boots anymore. From her thighs down, it was a mass of curved and jagged blades, entwined with each other to form some strange sort of weapon. Strange ornately carved hands braced the back of several of the blades. The thing was several times longer and thicker than she was, and looked like it could do some real damage if dropped on something. The shard of Timcanpy was the only thing she could feel. The rest of her felt completely numb and alien, not even cold anymore. She gripped it harder, taking a little bit of comfort as it dug into her palm.

Without her realizing it, her mouth moved.

"Falling Footsteps… Iron Shackles."

"That sort of thing won't work against my armor!" came a distant shout from the Akuma.

Stupid Akuma hadn't realized what it had done to help her. Lenalee's lips curled into a smirk, and she said, "Innocence, you can stop repelling the chains now."

There was a feeling of acknowledgement, and the light bubble vanished. The chains rushed back, wrapping around her. Even without it directly resisting it, the chains mainly avoided the blades, focusing on wrapping around Lenalee herself. She closed her eyes as layer upon layer closed over her. It pressed in, suffocating, but she didn't care. With a mental okay, she dropped. The gravity from the chains only sped the descent as the Innocence propelled her down, faster and faster and faster until the air screamed. The Innocence hit its mark with a shriek, and heat exploded. There was fire everywhere, heating the chains and burning her skin. The entire mass shuddered under the strain as it fought to keep going, fighting against the Akuma. She could hear the water roaring, but knew nothing else.

It took a while, but she broke through. With a loud snapping sound, she plunged into the water again. She didn't register the cold, or the wetness. She just knew that the chains were gone and she'd defeated that stupid Akuma. She smiled brokenly, clutching the little shard of broken golem as fog crept into her mind. She couldn't breathe anymore. She really was dying. Darkness was rushing in.

There was still activity in the back of her mind, though. Things were clicking, even while she sank, and she just _knew_. With her free hand she brushed against the Innocence and mouthed, "The Vanguard. The Vanguard. We need to… get… back to… Vanguard…."

Vanguard.

Safety.

Vanguard.

Home.

Brother.

Heart.

* * *

Atuuda was leading them in circles.

At first it had stayed in the same area, ghosting around the shattered glass, but then it had picked up speed. They'd followed it around the bank three times, up the street to the shopping district, and back down. At this point they were inside the bank itself (they'd gotten in through the broken glass in front), running up and down the stairs, along a wall covered in decorative, reflective metal bars.

"Okay, I'm getting real sick of this," Lavi panted.

"Suck it up and keep running!" Kanda snapped, equally out of breath.

As they reached the landing and doubled back, Timothy broke off from the group. He stumbled over to a wooden bench and collapsed on it.

"No more!" he whined.

"Come on, what if it leads us somewhere else?" said Lavi.

"I'll catch up!"

"Lazy ass!"

"Don't… talk to… children… like that!" Miranda wheezed.

She stumbled to a halt near the middle of the stairs and leaned against the railing to catch her breath. The four boys kept running, up and down and up and down. Atuuda didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon. Miranda slumped down to watch them, unable to keep walking.

"How long… do you think this will take?" she asked.

"God only knows," said Alma. "Hopefully not much longer, if the golems are doing anything."

"And if they don't do anything?"

"Then we're going to have to hope that some of the rebels got into the limbo to help."

There was a flickering in the reflection, and Atuuda stopped. Link ran right into it, and Lavi and Kanda stumbled into his back.

"Is she here? Close enough to pull out?" said Alma.

"I think," Link said uncertainly.

The reflection seemed to move again, and this time everyone saw it. The others drew back, eying it cautiously, and Timothy peered down from the top step. Miranda straightened, squinting as she tried to make out an image. It seemed… almost blue.

"Should we be trying to reach in or something?" said Lavi.

"Once she's close enough to break through, we'll see her," said Alma. "It'll look like a window."

"Then we'll see this limbo place on the other side?" said Kanda, and Alma nodded.

Light danced over one of the bars, and slowly, they all began to glow red hot. The air seemed to shudder, and then, just as Alma had said, it became a window. Something was shattering to pieces right in front of them, being blown apart by some sort of fiery monstrosity. Miranda's breath caught in her lungs.

"What the hell is that?" said Lavi.

"An attack! Some sort of overpowered attack! Everybody get out of the way!" Alma cried, yanking Lavi with him back down the stairs. Kanda hurried after them, and Miranda and Link made a bid for the top. Something crashed behind the 'window,' screeching and wailing and roaring, and Miranda could've sworn she heard violent waves and splashing, and then, it was a thundering crunch. Whatever had made that attack had plunged straight through into their world, bringing a rush of water and acrid smelling flame with it. Smoke and steam obscured it, but it smashed into the railing where Miranda had been, and plowed right through it. The object crashed into the lobby below, demolishing the big fountain in the middle. Miranda winced at the noise. The window faded away, so the bars seemed just as normal as before.

"The hell?" said Kanda.

"Oh, that better not be another Akuma!" Lavi muttered.

Miranda ventured a little closer to the scarred portion of the stairs and looked down. The steam kept billowing up, but the flame was dying, and she could glimpse something green amid the rubble.

"I don't think it's an Akuma," she said. After all, she'd never seen a green Akuma, and certainly not one that had that kind of radiance….

Atuuda wound down to it, hovering over the wreckage, and Alma said, "Hang on… is that Lenalee?"

They all looked at each other, and then tore down the stairs. Miranda took them two at a time, excited and terrified. She didn't know how that could be Lenalee if people weren't able to hop worlds, and she'd definitely never seen any of their group with that kind of strength. And the green. It wasn't the fire of Innocence, it had been hard, like a stone. Had something happened to her? They reached the first floor and ran across the tile, careful not to slip in the water coming from the broken fountain. The force from the impact had knocked the statue off its pedestal, and the water was spraying up and crooked, so it pattered down like rain. The smoke began to settle, the fire dying and the object cooling enough that the water didn't form steam, and with the clearer view, Miranda could see what it was.

The thing looked like a giant, iridescent green crystal. Taller than she was and wider than her wingspan, it was formed in a roughly diamond shape, though the bottom was long and tapered. Thin, delicate spikes were protruding near the top, two sets of four that stuck out like strange little wings. And stuck right in the middle of the crystal was Lenalee. The girl was in a twisted position, as if she'd jumped into water and been frozen that way. Her clothes were torn and tattered, jacket completely gone and legs and feet almost bare. It looked as if most of her hair had been shorn off, and there were burns obvious all over her skin. Her eyes were closed, her hands fisted.

"Oh my god," said Alma, slowing to a stop.

"What is that?" said Lavi. The rest of them crowded around, not sure what else to do while Alma kept staring at the thing. He was the one with answers, after all.

"I think it's Innocence," said Alma.

"Say what? I thought Innocence could only take form as a weapon!" said Lavi.

"Anti-Akuma weapons, Fallen Ones, and the pure cube form. There shouldn't be any other forms, but that is definitely Innocence!"

Link edged forward to get a better look. He'd walked maybe three feet when he stopped short. His eyes widened, and he began to shake.

"Link? Are you alright?" said Miranda. He didn't reply, but clutched his head and fell to his knees. Miranda hurried to his side, and began to panic at his twisted features. "H-hey! What's wrong?"

Alma glanced over at them, then did a double-take.

"Whoa! Link, get the hell away from that!"

The urgency in his voice made Miranda grab Link's arm and start pulling him away. Lavi quickly joined in, seizing his other arm and helping to heave the other man back behind the group.

"What happened?" said Miranda, still scared even while Link's breathing began to calm.

Alma wavered between going to them and getting closer to the crystal. After some hesitation, he chose the crystal. He reached out to touch it. What looked like a bolt of green lightning crackled around it, zapping Alma's hand. He swore and drew it back immediately.

"Alma?"

"Yeah, this is pure, undiluted Innocence energy," said Alma, nursing his injured hand. "It _stings_. Any non-accommodator probably isn't going to be able to stand its presence, it would affect them the same way a Fallen would. I think everyone should keep a good distance, Link and Miranda especially."

"Me?" said Miranda, confused.

"Yeah. Your Innocence is busy with the dome, so it isn't right here to protect you. And if it hurts an Angel, I hate to think what it might do to you guys."

"Oh," she muttered, sinking down next to Link. The rest of the group gave the crystal a wider berth while Alma circled it, presumably looking for any weaknesses or openings.

"So if that thing doesn't react nice to you, you don't think it's hurting Lenalee, do you?" said Lavi.

"I don't know," said Alma, still circling. "She doesn't seem to be in pain. If anything, it looks like this has to be her Innocence. The boots are gone, and well… Doesn't it look like a cocoon?"

"Cocoons don't attack things near it," said Kanda.

"Cocoons aren't normally made of Innocence," Alma shot back.

"Which means it's not a cocoon. Whatever the hell it is," said Kanda.

"No, I really think it is. Didn't you see that it was attacking something in the limbo? It probably went into this state to protect Lenalee from that level three…."

"Has this kind of thing ever happened before?" said Lavi. "Like… the Innocence trying to protect its accommodator like this?"

"It hasn't," Link hissed.

"Oh, thank goodness. I was getting a little worried there..." said Miranda.

Link sighed and sat up straighter, rubbing at his temple like he had a massive headache.

"Nowhere in my studies was there anything about Innocence reacting like this," he grunted. "It isn't supposed to be capable of changing forms once it's become a weapon, unless its accommodator dies. This shouldn't be possible."

Alma let out a shuddering breath, looking at the crystal now like it might jump and bite him.

"Well… Suman did say that the Heart was up and moving, didn't he?"

"You think this is the Heart?" said Lavi, incredulously.

"It's true, there's no Innocence that has ever done something like this before… and it is in the right location," said Alma.

Miranda looked up at the crystal with trepidation. The light shone off of it with a sharpness that almost hurt. She didn't like it at all, and couldn't shake the feeling that Lenalee had been trapped far from their reach. She didn't even know if the girl was still alive, because there was absolutely no movement in that crystal.

Alma looked around at their surroundings, nervousness in every movement as he said, "Stay away from the reflections, okay? If this really is the Heart… More Akuma are probably flocking toward us. We don't want to be dragged away too."

Miranda tightened her grip on Link's arm. She was sure he noticed, but he didn't say anything, and she was grateful for that.

* * *

"Wow, did you feel that?"

The pink umbrella found it a bit difficult to reply, as he was currently being twirled around. Despite the dizziness, he managed to squeak, "Y-yes, Mistress Road."

The girl stopped her movement, snapping the umbrella to a stop in her other hand. Lero squawked in surprise. He looked up in apprehension as the smile on her face grew wider, gold eyes practically shining with excitement.

"That was powerful enough to blow a hole right through the barrier," she said. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun…."

"F-fun? The Earl didn't even say you could come here, lero!" said the umbrella.

"Oh?"

"No! He said you had to stay home with your mother! What will Master Sheril say when he finds out you ran off to the other world, lero?" Lero scolded. "He'll give you spankings! Lots and lots of spankings!"

"Daddy would never spank me," she replied. "Besides, I'll just blame you."

Lero spluttered indignantly.

"Y-you wouldn't, lero!"

"Oh yes I would! This means you don't get to tell anybody I came to Mater, see?"

"…Fine, lero."

Road giggled and skipped down to the edge of the roof, then leaned a bit lower to try to see inside the bank across the street. She didn't see much of anything in there, but she could see where an Akuma had been destroyed outside, and she had definitely felt the wave of Innocence energy.

"Mistress Road, why were you so eager to get here anyway, lero?" the umbrella questioned.

Road rocked back and forth on her feet as she considered her answer, her smile becoming a little more predatory. A stream of laughter burst from her lips, and she took a few steps before spinning wildly. The umbrella squealed.

"Stop! Stop! Mistress Roooooooad!"

"No way!" she cackled.

She spun a few more times for good measure before letting go. Lero flew into the air and snapped open. He wailed miserably, but bobbed there, out of reach.

"You want the truth?" she called up to him.

"U-uh, yes, lero?"

"I want to see Allen!"

"Allen?" Lero repeated, confused. "Who's that again, lero?"

"The accommodator with the white hair! The one who can see the Akuma!" said Road, a little annoyed with the golem's faulty memory. "You know, the cute one?"

"C-cute, lero? A love between a Noah and an accommodator is impossible, lero! It'll never happen! Master Sheril will-"

"Oh cool it," Road grumbled, grabbing the umbrella handle and tugging Lero down again. "He's cute and fun to mess with. And if you tell Daddy anything, I'll snap you in half."

"The Earl would have your head, lero!"

"Oh no he wouldn't. The Earl loves me more."

Lero had nothing to combat that with, and just settled for wriggling and making unhappy noises. Road ignored him and returned her gaze to the bank.

"You're sure this is the group that had Timcanpy with them?"

"Yes, lero," the umbrella replied reluctantly.

"Good! Oh, I can't wait to catch them!" she said, practically shaking with glee. "I'll be able to see Allen, and maybe I'll even capture the Heart!"

She kept on laughing, and Lero just sighed in defeat. Those accommodators would never know what hit them.

* * *

Notes on this chapter:

1. As one of the random references, I really wanted to include the 'Art of Kanda' somewhere in this story. I also included Yoshi in passing, so I feel amazingly accomplished!

2. Komui is not a one hit wonder. He will be in upcoming chapters. He won't be an especially important character, but he'll be around.

3. Timcanpy will also be around. DON'T GIVE UP ON TIMCANPY!

**And a great big thank you to FailScribe, who was the beta reader for this chapter!**


End file.
